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THE HIGH COURT OF GAUHATI (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
DEVASHIS BARUAH
Mahalaxmi Enterprises – Appellant
Versus
State of Assam – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
DEVASHIS BARUAH, J.
The decision to cancel the tender process and to go ahead with the fresh tender process is the subject matter of consideration before this Court in the present writ petition.
2. Heard Mr. D Das, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. B Gogoi, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner and Ms. M.M. Kataky, the learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department of the Government of Assam.
3. None has appeared on behalf of the private respondent Nos. 4, 5 and 6, although due notice was affected upon them.
4. The facts leading to the filing of the instant writ petition are narrated infra.
The Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department floated an e-Tender dated 13.02.2024 in the GeM portal for procuring 367 Nos. of Ice Lined Refrigerators (ILR). The said notice inviting tender stipulated that the last date for submission of the tender was on 05.03.2024 by 12 P.M. and the date and time for bid opening was on the same date at 12.30 P.M. It was also mentioned that the time allowed for technical clarification during the technical evaluation was
Tender modifications must be communicated properly to ensure fairness; arbitrary cancellation violates constitutional rights.
The cancellation of a tender process before technical evaluation does not confer vested rights to bidders, and adherence to procurement laws is mandatory in future processes.
The authority may cancel a tender without reason if lack of competition is evident; bidders have no enforceable rights without formal acceptance of their bids.
The court emphasized the necessity for transparency in public procurement processes, ruling that arbitrary actions in tender decisions violate procedural fairness and statutory requirements.
Judicial review of tendering decisions is limited to assessing legality, with courts refraining from substituting the tender authority's decisions unless in cases of illegality or manifest arbitrarin....
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the conduct of the tendering authority, including the introduction of substantive terms through corrigendum and biased disqualification proces....
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