Court No. - 39
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 15319 of 2021 Petitioner :- M/S Syndicate Engineers Respondent :- Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited And Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Chandan Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- Abhishek Srivastava,Shishir Prakash
Hon'ble Mrs. Sunita Agarwal,J. Hon'ble Mrs. Sadhna Rani (Thakur),J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Shad Khan holding brief of Sri Shishir Prakash, learned counsel for the respondents-Nigam.
The present writ petition has been filed with the following relief:-
a) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned order/minutes of meeting of respondent no. 2 held on 05.06.2021 (Anneuxre - '1' to the writ petition) whereby earlier E-Tender Notice inviting E-tender bids for the work-'Round teh clock running, preventive and breakdown maintenance of MAX-DCS system and main plant C&I system in unit no.3&4, 2x210MW, PTPP Parichha, Jhansi has been cancelled and it has been directed to issue a fresh E-Tender;
b) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned the E-Tender Notice bearing Tender No. T-01/OMC-III/C&IMD-I/BTPS/PTPP/2021-22 dated 11.06.2021 issued by respondent no.3 (Anneuxre- '2' to this writ petition) inviting E-Tender for the work- 'Round the clock running, preventive and breakdown maintenance of MAX-DCS system and main plant C&I system in unit no.3&4, 2x210MW, PTPP Parichha, Jhans.
c) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding upon the respondents to issue Letter of Intent in favour of petitioner in pursuance of E-tender bearing Tender No. T-14/OMC-III/CIMD-I/BTPS/PTPP/2020-21 on 17.03.2021, which was finalized in favour of petitioner on 05.05.2021.
The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that the reasons given for cancellation of the bid is unsustainable, inasmuch as, it was not open for the respondents to cancel the bid on the ground of participation of lesser number of bidders after opening of the financial bid and declaration of the petitioner as L-I bidder. The submission is that the said order of the respondents has resulted in exclusion of the petitioner in the future tender initiated with the e-tender notice dated 11.06.2021.
A perusal of the record indicates that the e-tender submitted by the petitioner was passed at the technical stage and after finalization of the financial bid it was placed before the Tender Committee. The Committee found that only 2 bidders had participated in the tender and that might have occurred on account of the adverse situation arose due to Covid-19. It was thus decided to cancel the bid and invite fresh e-tender.
The e-tender notice in the month of June, 2021 had, thereafter, been issued.
The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that after opening of the financial bid, it was incumbent on the respondents to issue the work order, is not acceptable, inasmuch as, no indefeasible rights are created in favour of the petitioner by mere participation in the bid or on opening of the tender.
Selection of the petitioner as L1 bidder was subject to the decision of the Tender Committee. Further, there cannot be a dispute that the Country was practically in a state-of-seize-in the month of March, 2021. The Covid-19 graph was at its peak and the people have lost control of their normal life. In the said scenario, the decision of the committee to invite fresh tender in an effort to get competitive bid cannot be said to suffer from any error. This apart, there is nothing on record to indicate that there is any infirmity in the whole process.
For the aforesaid, we do not find any merit in the writ petition. The same is, accordingly, dismissed.
Order Date :- 12.8.2021 gp Digitally signed by SUNITA AGARWAL Date: 2021.08.16 15:44:48 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad Digitally signed by Sadhna Rani Thakur Date: 2021.08.16 15:46:20 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad