Tender interpretation and limited judicial review upheld rejection of a bid for lacking metro project experience.

A tender condition requiring experience in metro civil construction had to be construed on its own terms, and experience in an inter-city high speed railway project did not make the word "metro" redundant. The Court treated a metro railway as a distinct rail-guided mass rapid transit system and gave weight to the tendering authority's understanding of its own requirement. In tender review, judicial interference is limited to the decision-making process and is justified only for mala fides, favouritism, or a decision so arbitrary, irrational, or perverse that no reasonable authority could have reached it. As no such defect was shown, rejection of the bid was upheld and the High Court's interference was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the tender condition requiring experience in a metro civil construction work was satisfied by the joint venture's experience in an inter-city high speed railway project, and whether the High Court was justified in interfering with the tendering authority's decision rejecting the bid.

Analysis: The tender condition had to be read in its own terms, and the expression "metro" could not be treated as redundant. The metro railway statutes applicable to Nagpur showed that a metro railway is a distinct rail-guided mass rapid transit system, and the authority that framed the tender was best placed to understand the requirement. In tender matters, judicial review is limited to examining the decision-making process, and interference is warranted only where the decision is mala fide, intended to favour someone, or so arbitrary, irrational, or perverse that no reasonable authority could have taken it. The High Court ought not to have substituted its own interpretation unless the authority's view was shown to be perverse or mala fide, which was not established.

Conclusion: The bid rejection was valid, the High Court's interference was unwarranted, and the appeal succeeded.

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