Initially, the writ petition was filed seeking quashing of Clause 15(xix) of the notice inviting tender (NIT) as ultra vires Rule 53 (a) contained in Notification No. 471F dated 15.01.1919 and for quashing the list issued on 11.09.2014 whereby, the petitioner-company has been declared ineligible and with further prayers seeking direction upon the respondents to open the financial bid of the petitioner-company and not to grant exclusive privilege of wholesale supply of liquor to other tenderers during the pendency of the writ petition. Later on, an amendment application being I.A. No. 5678 of 2014 was filed for addition of a further prayer seeking quashing of licenses issued in favour of M/s Maa Tarini Natural Resources Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Kumar Bottlers. I.A. No. 5678 of 2014 was allowed vide order dated 07.11.2014 and thus, the licenses issued in favour of the respondent nos. 6 & 7 are also under challenge.

BRIEF FACTS

2. M/s Chhatisgarh Distilleries Ltd., a company duly incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, is engaged in the manufacturing of portable spirit, country liquor and Indian Made Foreign Liquor. Claiming sufficient financial, technical and infrastructural capacity, the petitioner has asserted that it was awarded tender for supply of country liquor and foreign liquor in the State of Chhatisgarh and for supply of country liquor in the State of Jharkhand and Bihar and the execution of tenders awarded to it has been extremely satisfactory. In the State of Chhatisgarh more than 60 % of the total requirement of country liquor is catered by the petitioner-company. Pursuant to NIT dated 14.08.2014 published in the Gazette on 19.08.2014 for grant of exclusive privilege of the wholesale supply of country liquor in bottle/sachet, the petitioner submitted its technical and financial bids in separate sealed cover on 03.09.2014. The technical bid was opened on 04.09.2014 when the Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Excise Prohibition Department asked the tendrers to submit objection, if any, in writing. On coming to know that one M/s Gajanand Impax Pvt. Ltd. has made allegation against the petitioner-company vide letter dated 04.09.2014 that it has submitted a false affidavit, the petitioner made request on 06.09.2014 for supply of a copy of the complaint sent by M/s Gajanand Impax Pvt. Ltd. Vide letters dated 08.09.2014 and 10.09.2014, the petitioner-company refuted that it has submitted a false affidavit. It was asserted by the petitioner-company that it fulfilled eligibility criteria and it has substantively complied the requirement of tender conditions. However, a list of eligible and ineligible tenderers was issued on 11.09.2014, in which the petitioner-company has been declared “ineligible” on the ground that the affidavit submitted by it was not in terms of the tender conditions. Claiming loss of about 35 crores to the public exchequer on account of nongrant of license to the petitioner-company because its bid was lower by 0.61 per sachet than the awardee and alleging action of the respondents in disqualifying the petitioner-company as illegal and arbitrary besides, ultra vires Rule 53(a) of the Rules, the present writ petition has been filed.

3. A counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent-State of Jharkhand questioning bonafide of the petitioner in filing the writ petition challenging Clause 15(xix) of NIT, after participating in the tender process. It is stated that the writ petition has been filed with malafide intention to disrupt the process for grant of exclusive privilege to the successful tenderers. The duration of the license for supplying country liquor is 3½ years and therefore, if a tenderer against whom a criminal case is pending, is permitted to participate in the tender and if the tenderer is convicted by the Court during the tender period, a situation may arise which would ultimately hamper revenue of the State. The vacuum thus created would encourage illicit manufacture of country liquor