Binding pre-bid auction qualifications cannot be relaxed for one bidder after participation in the tender process.
Pre-bid qualifications in a liquidation auction, including age, turnover and net worth requirements for each property lot, were binding because the liquidator may fix sale terms in consultation with the Stakeholders Consultation Committee to maximise asset value. A bidder who participated with knowledge of the tender conditions could not later seek individual relaxation or rewrite the eligibility clause without first challenging it. The request for special treatment was therefore rejected, and the stipulated tender criteria remained enforceable for all bidders.
Issues: (i) Whether the liquidator could insist on the stipulated turnover and net worth criteria as a pre-bid qualification for each set of land and building in the e-auction. (ii) Whether the applicant was entitled to individual relaxation or modification of the tender conditions without challenging the eligibility clause in the tender document.
Issue (i): Whether the liquidator could insist on the stipulated turnover and net worth criteria as a pre-bid qualification for each set of land and building in the e-auction.
Analysis: The tender document expressly prescribed eligibility criteria requiring an entity to be at least three years old with specified turnover and net worth for each set of land and building. The liquidation framework permits the liquidator to fix terms and conditions of sale, including reserve price, earnest money deposit and pre-bid qualifications, and the liquidator stated that these terms were fixed in consultation with the Stakeholders Consultation Committee. The court held that such pre-bid qualifications are an essential component of the auction process and serve the objective of maximising asset value.
Conclusion: The liquidator was entitled to enforce the stipulated eligibility criteria for each property, and the applicant had no right to seek relaxation of those conditions.
Issue (ii): Whether the applicant was entitled to individual relaxation or modification of the tender conditions without challenging the eligibility clause in the tender document.
Analysis: The applicant participated in the bidding process with full knowledge of Clause 1.15, but did not challenge that clause. The court held that a bidder cannot, after participating, seek to re-write the bidding conditions in its own favour, particularly when several other bidders satisfied the prescribed eligibility norms. The applicant also had no amended prayer challenging the validity of the eligibility clause, and no special treatment could be granted on the basis of the email correspondence relied upon.
Conclusion: The applicant was not entitled to any special relaxation or modification of the tender conditions, and the request for participation contrary to the stipulated eligibility criteria was rejected.
Final Conclusion: The application failed on merits because the auction terms, including the pre-bid qualifications, were binding and could not be altered for one bidder alone.
Ratio Decidendi: Pre-bid qualifications fixed in the tender under the liquidation sale framework, particularly when settled in consultation with the Stakeholders Consultation Committee, are binding and cannot be relaxed or rewritten for an individual bidder in the absence of a challenge to the tender condition itself.
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