W.P.(C.) No.4515/2020

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Judgment reserved on: 13.01.2021

%

Judgment delivered on: 22.01.2021

+

W.P.(C) 4515/2020 & CM APPL. 16253/2020

CORPORATE INFOTECH PRIVATE LIMITED ..... Petitioner

Through:

Mr.Tanmaya Mehta, Adv.

versus

SOUTH DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION & ORS.

….. Respondents

Through:

Mr.Sanjay Poddar, Sr. Adv. with

Ms.Aakanksha

Kaul,

standing

Counsel,

Mr.Govind

Kumar

&

Mr.Manek Singh, Advs.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIPIN SANGHI

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI

.

J U D G M E N T

VIPIN SANGHI, J.

1.

This writ petition has been preferred by the petitioner primarily to

assail the decision of the respondent, namely South Delhi Municipal

Corporation

(SDMC)

to

cancel

the

E-tender

Notice

No.

DIT/SDMC/2020/15/D-09 dated 30.04.2020, which was a Request of

Proposal (RFP) for selection of vender for providing internet bandwidth,

AMC & Maintenance of IT Infrastructure, Network Management for the

three Municipal Corporations of Delhi, communicated to the petitioner vide

2021:DHC:246-DB

W.P.(C.) No.4515/2020

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order dated 16.07.2020. The petitioner also seeks a direction to the

Administrative Officer of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to

complete the process of tender in pursuance of E–tender notice dated

30.04.2020 from the stage as was on 03.06.2020.

2.

The petitioner is a company engaged in the business of providing

Information Technology Services. The petitioner has disclosed that in the

year 2009, the then Municipal Corporation of Delhi had awarded a contract

to M/S Tech Mahindra Ltd. for providing services of the kind in respect

whereof the aforesaid RFP was issued on 30.04.2020. In January 2012, the

Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated into three Municipal

Corporations, namely the South, North and East Delhi Municipal

Corporations. The petitioner further states that as per its information, M/s

Tech Mahindra sub-delegated the work to Leading Edge Communication

Pvt. Limited which is presently providing the relevant services. The

petitioner further states that the contract with M/s Tech Mahindra came to an

end on 31.12.2019, yet the respondent is continuing to avail services from

Leading Edge Communication Pvt. Limited. On 06.12.2019, the South

Delhi Municipal Corporation floated a tender vide E-tender notification No.

DIT/SDMC/2019-20/14/D-899 for selection of a vendor for providing

Internet Bandwidth, AMC & maintenance of IT Infrastructure, Network

Management for South, North and East Municipal Corporations of Delhi,

calling upon the prospective bidders to submit tenders upto 26.12.2020.

3.

The petitioner states that it participated in the said process. However,

on 15.04.2020, the Tender Evaluation Committee recommended the

scrapping of the ongoing tender process, and to invite fresh tenders. This

2021:DHC:246-DB

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recommendation of the Tender Evaluation Committee was accepted by the

Commissioner, SDMC, and consequently that tender was cancelled. On

30.04.2020, fresh online tenders were invited for the second time vide a

tender notice No. DIT/SDMC/2020/15/D-09, by the IT Department, South

Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) for selection of vendor for providing

Internet Bandwidth, AMC & Maintenance of IT Infrastructure, Network

Management for South, North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations. On

06.05.2020, a pre-bid meeting was organised, where 9 prospective bidders

participated. The petitioner states that it submitted its bid on 19.05.2020.

The last date for submitting the bid was up to 03:00 PM on 20.05.2020.

4.

In all, seven vendors made their offers. On 20.05.2020, the Techno

Commercial Bids of all the bidders were opened on the E-Tendering Portal

of SDMC. Five of the seven bidders qualified, including the petitioner.

They were eligible and qualified for further evaluation. On