The decision-making process must be legal, rational, and in the public interest, and the disqualification of a bidder must be in accordance with the tender document and the e-procurement portal.

Ajay Rastogi, J.

The instant writ petition has been filed at the instance of one of the bidder petitioner who had participated in the e-tender initiated at the instance of the Director, State Council of Educational Research and Training, Tripura (for short “SCERT”) from such of the firms of the Indian origin and operating within India having sufficient multicolour printing, binding and supply facilities for printing multicolour/bi-colour cover pages and inner pages of textbooks of Classes-I to XII for the academic session-2019 dt.24th July, 2018 in online bidding process but the bid of the petitioner was declared technically non-responsive/disqualified by the Tender Screening Committee/Tender Evaluation Committee in its meeting held on 28th August 2018 on the premise that the petitioners failed to upload the “factory registration certificate”.

2. The indisputed facts, in brief, which are delineated for the present purpose, are that the Director of State Council of Educational Research and Training, Tripura (SCERT) invited an item wise e-tender from the firms of the Indian origin and operating within India having sufficient multicolour printing, binding and supply facilities for printing multicolour/bi-colour cover pages and inner pages of textbooks of Classes-I to XII for the academic session-2019 vide its bid documents dt.24th July, 2018 and to be opened for eligible bidders/printers/firms until 16th August, 2018 at 9.00 a.m. for the various works. It was pointed out that bidders shall participate in bidding only in online through website through e-procurement portal of the State of Tripura and will not allow any bidder to attempt bidding after the scheduled date and time and submission of bids physically was not permitted.

3. It may be relevant at this stage to note that the bidding was invited for various categories of Group A-F but the petitioner bid was for Group A-E and he was not the Bidder for category Group F. That under the Bid document there was instructions to bidders that after the bidder get himself enrolled in the eprocurement portal and obtained User ID and Password for bidding was permitted to download the DNIT and all the other materials including printing, binding and supply of textbooks mentioned in Group-A to Group-F in the DNIT and was excepted to go though the instructions/terms & conditions/eligibility criteria of the DNIT.

4. As per the list of dates originally notified in the bid document, bid submission was ended on 16th August, 2018 at 9.00 a.m. and Technical Bid opening date and time was on 16th August, 2018 at 16.00 hours and the financial Bid date and time was to be separately notified to all technically shortlisted/qualified bidders and at the stage of technical evaluation the bidder was supposed to satisfy at the pre-qualification criteria as referred to in the clause (“D”) submission of Bids under clause 14 of the Instructions to Bidders which the Bidder was supposed to scan & upload the Technical Bid documents required during actual bidding along with the tender as referred to under Clause 3 and 3.2 read with Clause 14.2 and the bid document. All such documents which are to be scanned and uploaded have been specifically indicated by the authority under Clause 14.2 (a) & (b) respectively although while submitting the bid document it was required to re-visit once again, going through the check list to accompany the bid. I consider it appropriate to quote the extract of the relevant Clauses of the bid document to which we are presently concerned from the instructions to the bidders made available are quoted hereunder :-

“3. Pre-Qualification date of the Bidders

3.1 The bidder should satisfy the pre-qualification criteria as fixed here under and in case any bidder is not fund satisfying any of such criteria as fixed, his/her bid will be summarily rejected. The bidder shall furnish the fol