Tender conditions must serve public interest and not violate equality principles; judicial review is limited unless conditions are unreasonable or arbitrary.

1. The respondent-Transmission Corporation of A. P. Limited issued Tender Notice No. APT 13/2005 dated 30-5-2005 inviting sealed bids for the supply and laying of 220 KV, 1000 sq. mm XLPE underground copper cable with associated accessories including services for laying, joining, terminations, site testing, commissioning the complete cable system for a quantity of 33 Kms.

2. The petitioner-company claims to have engaged in the business of manufacture, supply and installation of electric cables of various specifications for the past four decades. It is also claimed that it executed works/contracts with various Government Agencies including Electricity Boards throughout the country particularly of manufacturing and laying cables of 220 KV. It has its factory at Borivali, Mumbai and has got the manufacturing facility for manufacturing specialized cables particularly required by the various Electricity Boards.

3. In the present writ petition, the petitioner seeks to challenge some of the Qualification Requirements imposed under the Tender Notice dated 30-5-2005 issued by the respondent contending that the said conditions are wholly unreasonable, arbitrary and discriminatory. The said conditions specified under the Qualification Requirements in Section VI of the Notice Inviting Bids (NIB) are as under :
1.a.i) The Bidder should be a manufacturer who must have designed, manufactured, tested and supplied at least 13 KM of 220 KV, 1000 sq. mm, or higher voltage grade XLPE insulated, copper U/G cable in any one of the last five financial years. At least 6 KM of 220 KV, 1000 sq. mm, or higher voltage grade XLPE insulated, copper U/G cable should be in successful operation for at least two years.
a.iii) The Bidder should have satisfactorily completed laying of at least 5 Circuit KM of 220 KV or higher voltage XLPE U/G cable as a prime contractor in any one of the last five financial years, which is in successful operation for more than two years.
4). All the offered Cable and Accessories shall be fully type tested by the bidder as per the relevant standards including the type tests mentioned below. The type tests must have been conducted on the offered cable and Accessories, from the reputed International Test Laboratories mentioned at 6.1.3 (Technical part of this specification), not earlier than 2000. The bidder shall furnish two sets of above type test reports along with the bid. The offers received without these type test reports shall be treated as Non-responsive.
The petitioner is also aggrieved by Clause 6.2.1-C(b) of Section VII of Technical Specification which contains one of the type tests on cable system, which runs as under :
"Pre-qualification tests on complete cable system as per IEC 62067."

4. The petitioner contends that the above qualification requirements are palpably arbitrary, capricious and wholly unreasonable which have the effect of eliminating Indian participation in the contract. It is also contended that the above conditions do not have any rationale and have no nexus to the object sought to be achieved. It is further contended that the conditions are impossible of performance by the Indian Companies and thus they are intended only to eliminate participation by Indian companies and to the detriment of the public interest because of the cost escalation on account of exclusive foreign participation.

5. It is stated that the petitioner-company is the only Indian company having full potential to manufacture the specialized cables required under the impugned tender notice indigenously and in a most cost effective manner. It is claimed that it is in a position to perform to the fullest sati