HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No. 18383 OF 2025

O R D E R:

This Writ Petition is filed in response to respondents' refusal to consider petitioner's request to conduct e-Reverse Auction (e-RA) process afresh following an alleged technical glitch. The petitioner also seeks to have e-RA process conducted on 24.06.2025 for construction of roads and drains at Kurnool-3 Pooling Station, under Tender Specification No. SR-I/C&M/WC-4078/2025/RFx-5002004275 (SR1/NT/W- CIVIL/DOM/B00/25/02433), declared void and, consequently, to direct the respondents to re-conduct the e-RA process.

2. Petitioner, a partnership firm registered under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 specializes in civil construction projects, construction of OFC projects and manufacturing of mechanical components for the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Respondent No. 1, is a public sector undertaking of the Government of India and holds the position of the largest power transmission licensee in the country. On 10.03.2025, Respondent No. 1 issued an invitation-for-bid (IFB) vide Specification No. SR-I/C&M/WC-4078/2025/RFx- 5002004275 (SR1/NT/W-CIVIL/DOM/B00/25/02433) for construction of roads and drains at Kurnool-3 Pooling Station.

Bidding was to be conducted through domestic competitive bidding procedures, subject to qualifying requirements, utilizing a ‘Single Stage Two Envelope Bidding’ procedure.

2.1. Petitioner applied for tender by submitting the required documents. After successful completion of Single Stage Two Envelope Biding procedure, petitioner was declared as the Lowest Evaluated Bidder. According to clause 29 of the instructions-to-bidders (ITB) issued by respondents, an e-Reverse Auction (e-RA) would be conducted if variation of the lowest evaluated bidder's price was less than or equal to +5% of the Indicative Estimated Cost for e-RA. This e-RA would include all the bidders whose evaluated price fell within the range of 5% of the evaluated price of the X1 bidder and was also less than or equal to +5% of the Indicative Estimated Cost for e-RA. Pursuant to these guidelines, petitioner, along with two other competitive bidders named A. V. Mohan Reddy and the 3^rd respondent - Sri Lakshmi Constructions, were deemed eligible for e-RA. Petitioner, as the Lowest Evaluated Bidder, was scheduled to participate in e-RA on 24.06.2025 at 11:00 AM., slated to last for 120 minutes, with an auto-extension of 20 minutes if a bidder placed a price lower than the prevailing L1 bidder by at least the specified decrement. This extension would continue until there was no change in the prevailing L1 price within the final 20 minutes.

2.2. Petitioner participated in e-RA on 24.06.2025, which began at 11:00 AM. Both the petitioner and another competitive bidder were actively placing bids. However, at approximately 2:09 PM, petitioner encountered a technical issue on respondents' e-RA portal; server became unresponsive and the portal displayed an error message stating "No support for Java APPLET!!!". This technical glitch prevented petitioner from continuing its participation in the auction. Immediately after the technical issue, petitioner attempted to contact ERP SRM helpdesk support, but the calls went unanswered. They then informed officials from the office of Respondent No. 2 about the issue and on the same day, they personally visited their office and submitted representation dated 24.06.2025 and requested re-conduction of e-RA process. However, respondents have not taken any steps.

2.3. Petitioner was denied a meaningful opportunity to participate in the final and crucial phase of e-RA due to circumstances beyond its control, thereby depriving it of the right to carry on its lawful business and trade, which is violation of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and it is discriminatory and fails the test of reasonableness under Article

14 of the Constitution. Having been declared L1 in the previous stage and having qualified for e-RA, petitioner had