TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (9) TMI 1234
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....IT No. 365/2023-24 for the Construction of B.T. Road, widening, and development of the road from Budhwaribazar to Gurunanak Complex at Sakti, District - Sakti, Chhattisgarh. The subject tender was a second call tender in nature and the value of the tender work was for Rs. 303.11 Lakh only. In total, nine individuals/entities submitted bids for the tender procurement, including the Petitioner. Through the impugned communication dated 06.07.2023 the Petitioner was informed by the tendering authorities that the bid of the Petitioner has been rejected solely on the ground that GST returns have been filed for only last 5 months and return of March and April 2023 has not been filed and the bid of Respondent No. 3, M/s. Govind Kumar Agarwal has be....
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....ts and of the case, may also kindly be granted." 3. Mr. Ankit Singhal, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the disqualification of the petitioner for the technical bid is without any application of mind, discriminatory, arbitrary, perverse and against the terms and conditions of the tender document and the tender has been awarded to Respondent No.3, M/s. Govind Kumar Agarwal, despite its clear non-compliance with the criteria laid down in the NIT terms and conditions. He further submits that while the petitioner's bid was rejected for not filing of the return for the month of May 2023, respondent No.3 has also failed to file the return for the same month. Thus, he prays to declare bid selection of respondent No.3 as wrong. He....
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....d 19.05.2023 held as follows : "48. This Court being the guardian of fundamental rights is duty-bound to interfere when there is arbitrariness, irrationality, mala fides and bias. However, this Court has cautioned time and again that courts should exercise a lot of restraint while exercising their powers of judicial review in contractual or commercial matters. This Court is normally loathe to interfere in contractual matters unless a clear-cut case of arbitrariness or mala fides or bias or irrationality is made out. One must remember that today many public sector undertakings compete with the private industry. The contracts entered into between private parties are not subject to scrutiny under writ jurisdiction. No doubt, the bodie....
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....ues the courts should be even more reluctant because most of us in Judges' robes do not have the necessary expertise to adjudicate upon technical issues beyond our domain. The courts should not use a magnifying glass while scanning the tenders and make every small mistake appear like a big blunder. In fact, the courts must give "fair play in the joints" to the government and public sector undertakings in matters of contract. Courts must also not interfere where such interference will cause unnecessary loss to the public exchequer. (See: Silppi Constructions Contractors v. Union of India, (2020) 16 SCC 489) 52. Ordinarily, a writ court should refrain itself from imposing its decision over the decision of the employer as to wheth....
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....ion-making process, the court must exercise its discretionary powers under Article 226 with great caution and should exercise it only in furtherance of public interest and not merely on the making out of a legal point. The court should always keep the larger public interest in mind in order to decide whether its intervention is called for or not. Only when it comes to a conclusion that overwhelming public interest requires interference, the court should interfere. 54. As observed by this Court in Jagdish Mandal v. State of Orissa and Others, reported in (2007) 14 SCC 517, that while invoking power of judicial review in matters as to tenders or award of contracts, certain special features should be borne in mind that evaluations of ....