* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment reserved on: 10.03.2026 Judgment delivered on: 19.03.2026 Judgment uploaded on: As per Digital Signature~

+ W.P.(C) 2761/2026 & CM APPL. 13466/2026 RASI NUTRI FOODS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED .....Petitioner versus NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE MARKETING FEDERATION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondents + W.P.(C) 2839/2026 & CM APPL. 13780/2026 KOTA DALL MILL, KOTA & ANR. .....Petitioners versus NATIONAL AGRICULTURE COOPERATIVE MARKETING FEDERATION OF INDIA LIMITED .....Respondent + W.P.(C) 2984/2026 & CM APPL. 14419/2026 MARIYA MAHILA BACHAT GAT AUTHORIZING REPRESENTATIVE JANAK RAVINDER AGARWAL.....Petitioner versus NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE MARKETING FEDERATION OF INDIA LTD NAFED THROUGH SECRETARY & ORS ......Respondents Advocates who appeared in this case For the Petitioner : Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Senior Advocate with Mr.

Paavan Awasthi, Ms. Manjira Dasgupta, Ms. Tanya Srivastava, Mr. Anmol Kheta, Mr. Naman Maheshwari, Ms Meghna Mishra, Mr Ankit Rajgarhia, Mr Prabhav Bahuguna, Mr Samar Singh, Mr Naman Maheshwari, Mr Siddhant Ahirwal, Advs.

Mr Jayant Mehta, Senior Advocate with Mr. Karthik Sundar, Mr. Rajarshi Roy, Mr. Anmol Agarwal, Mr. Julius Mera Smith, Mr. Arsh Rampal, Mr. Amit Agarwal, Advs.

For the Respondents : Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Mr. Anil Airi Senior Advocates with Mr. Aaditya Vijaykumar, Ms. Akshita Katoch, Mr. Naman Garg, Mr. Anirudh Anand, Mr. Krisna Gambhir, Ms. Shreya Sethi, Harsh Gautam, Mr. Vishal Tyagi, Advocates and Mr. Amit Goel and Ms. Babita Dhawan AR from NAFED.

Ms. Radhika Bishwajit Dubey, CGSC with Ms. Gurleen Kaur Waraich, Mr. Kritarth Upadhyay, Mr. Amulya Dev Mishra, Advs for UOI.

Mr Anil Mittal, Mr Shaurya Mittal Advs. for R-2&3.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA

JUDGMENT

V. KAMESWAR RAO, J.

1. As these three writ petitions have been filed seeking identical prayers challenging the tender bearing NIT No. NAFED/HO/ICDS/RECIPE/2025- 2026/01 dated 16.02.2026, they were heard together and are being decided by way of this common judgment.

FACTS AND SUBMISSION ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONERS W.P.(C) 2761/2026

2. At the outset, we may narrate a brief factual background of the case.

3. The Respondent No.1/National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (“NAFED”) issued a Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) No.NAFED/HO/ICDS/ RECIPE/2025-2026/01 dated 16.02.2026 for supply of Recipe Based Supplementary Nutrition („RBSN‟) food items in the State of Uttar Pradesh for Financial Year 2026-27 under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.

4. The petitioner is a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013. It was earlier registered as a partnership firm, and later converted to a private limited company in the year 2021. The petitioner and its predecessor in interest are engaged in the manufacturing and supply of fortified food products and supplementary nutrition since the year 2004.

5. The case of the petitioner/Rasi Nutri Foods India Private Limited as contended by Mr. Rajiv Nayar, learned Senior Counsel, is as under:- 5.1 Clause A (1) of the Eligibility Criteria for Participation in the Tender dated 16.02.2026 which mandates that, a bidder must own a manufacturing unit in the State of Uttar Pradesh prior to the floating date of the tender is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and is contrary to public procurement norms.

5.2 Clause A (12) of the Eligibility Criteria for Participation in the Tender, which stipulates that, “there should not be any pending legal/criminal cases and/or any other cases/disputes associated with THR supplies against them with any State/Central/UT/State Level Agency on the date of submission of this tender by the bidder(s)”, is ex facie vague and arbitrary, inasmuch as it disqualifies a bidder merely on the ground of pendency of any legal proceedings or disputes, irrespective of their nature, gravity, stage or o