TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (8) TMI 416
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....e Respondents more particularly the action of Respondent No. 3 in disqualifying the bid of the Petitioner qua Tender Notice Nos: 13/T4/2025-26 dated 06.05.2025 as the winning bid without following the due procedure of law vide which the terms of the invitation to tender were read in a tailor made manner to suit the convenience of Respondent-5 as bad, manifestly arbitrary and illegal and also in violation of Articles 14,19, 21 and 300A of Constitution of India and in violation of the Tender Notice, and also in violation of GO Ms No 94, l & CAD (PWW) Department Dt 01-07-2003 & GO MS NO. 195 dated 10.05.1999 and consequently direct the Respondents-1 to 4 herein to consider the financial bid of the Petitioner qua Tender Notice No 13/T4/2025-26 dated 06-05-2025; and/or to pass such other order or orders as the Hon'ble Court deems fit and appropriate as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of this case; and/or" 3. SUBMISSIONS OF THE WRIT PETITIONER: Sri C. Kranthi Kumar, Ld. Counsel representing Sri Kasim Nagasaim, Ld. Counsel for the Petitioner has submitted that the Superintendent Engineer, Department of Rural Water Supply & Sanitation, Vijayawada (Resp....
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....tion of the Writ Petitioner's bid as being arbitrary inasmuch as the tender conditions must be specifically clear and precise and that all the tenderers should be made aware of the scope and purport of the mandatory conditions. He would submit that the absence of an express condition regarding furnishing of UDIN in the Annual Turnover Reports and Balance Sheets should be considered in favour of the Writ Petitioner. 6. Ld. Counsel for the Writ Petitioner has placed reliance on Para Nos. 34 to 38 of the Judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Reliance Energy Ltd. and another Vs. Maharashtra State Road Development Corpn. Ltd. and Others; (2007) 8 SCC 1; and Para No. 36 in the case of the Siemens Public Communication Networks Private Limited and Another Vs. Union of India and Others; (2008) 16 Supreme Court Cases 215. Ld. Counsel for the Writ Petitioner has placed reliance on the dictum in Reliance Energy Ltd.'s case on the preposition that the Official Respondents should create a level playing field in order to buttress import of Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India. Ld. Counsel for the Writ Petitioner has also placed reliance in Siemens Public Communi....
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....ancial Statements regarding the Annual Turnover and Balance Sheets. Mandatory documents to be submitted along with the bid would include (at Sl.No.6) the Annual Turnover Certificates along with the Balance Sheets for the last five years i.e., 2020-2021 to 2024-2025. The tender condition concerning the rule of 'Financial Data' and 'Tender Condition No.11.10. Financial Standing' are usefully extracted hereunder: "FINANCIAL DATA: The Bidder shall submit the financial data showing proof of financial standing supported by audited financial statements regarding the annual turnover, current liquid assets, past experience, ability to mobilize financial resources on reasonable terms, track record of the firm in having made reasonable profits and qualifications and experience of the financial management of technical personnel proposed to be employed on the project." 11.10. Financial standing: The Bidder shall furnish audited financial statements for the last five years, audited by a Chartered Accountant, which include Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet and certificates regarding contingent liabilities. In case of any nil statements, the same shall be c....
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....This mandate was implemented in a phased manner for full-time Practicing Chartered Accountants as under: (i) For all certificates, effective from 1st February, 2019; (ii) For all GST and Tax Audit Reports, effective from 1st April, 2019; and (iii) For all other Audits, Assurance, and Attestation functions, effective from 1st July, 2019. 15. A portal has been created by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The relevant information for this case that is available on the above portal is usefully extracted hereunder: "The primary objective behind mandating UDIN is to *curb malpractices* such as false certification by individuals misrepresenting themselves as CAs and the forgery of CA signatures. It aims to enhance trust and credibility in financial reporting and helps regulatory bodies, banks, and financial intermediaries verify the authenticity and genuineness of documents issued by Chartered Accountants, supporting their policy and decision-making processes. Furthermore, the *Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)* integrated its e-filing portal with the ICAI portal to validate UDINs for Tax Audit Reports and other CA c....
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....support." (Preface of 5th edition). 2. Mandatory Implementation and Scope UDIN generation became mandatory for practicing CAs in a phased manner in 2019: - 1st February 2019: For all Certificates. - 1st April 2019: For all GST and Tax Audit Reports. - 1st July 2019: For all other Audit, Assurance, and Attestation functions. (FAQs, Q5, Foreword to 1st edition). Who Must Generate UDINs? - "All Practicing CAs having full-time Certificate of Practice (CoP) have to generate UDIN after registering themselves on UDIN Portal." (FAQs, Q6). - Members in industry and part-time CoP holders are not allowed to generate UDINs. (FAQs, Q12, Q13). Documents Requiring UDIN: UDIN is required for any document or report signed "either digitally or manually by a full-time practicing CA." (Preface to 1st edition). This includes a wide range of documents such as: - Certificates (e.g., Net Worth Certificates, Turnover Certificates, certificates under LLP Act, Income-Tax Laws). (FAQs, Chapter 4). - GST and Tax Audit Reports (e.g., Form 3CA, 3CB, 3CD, Form 29B for MAT Audit). (FAQs, Chapter 5). ....
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.... decision support'. The primary object of UDIN, as mentioned on the portal, is to curb the malpractices of certification by non-Chartered Accountants by impersonating themselves as Chartered Accountants and to counter forgeries of signatures of the Chartered Accountants that mislead the Authorities and stakeholders. 18. The ICAI has issued a Notification on 02.08.2019, which is usefully extracted hereunder: "The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (set up by an Act of Parliament) NOTIFICATION New Delhi, 2 August, 2019 No. 1-CA(7)/192/2019.- Whereas, to curb the malpractice of false certification/attestation by the unauthorized persons and to eradicate the practice of bogus certificates and to save various regulators, banks, stakeholders etc. from being misled, the Council of the Institute decided to implement an innovative concept to generate Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) mandatorily for all kinds of the certificates/GST and tax audit reports and other attest function in phased manner, for which members of the ICAI were notified through the various announcements published on the website of ICAI www.icai.org at the relevant times. ....
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....d balance-sheet and profit and loss account statement, and a certificate issued by the Chartered Accountant to establish their turnover of Rs. 5.00 Crores average over past three years. 6. The petitioner states that, along with its tender, the petitioner provided the Tax Audit Reports in Forms 3CB and 3CD, which were signed by the petitioner's Director, apart from the Chartered Accountant. 7. According to the petitioner, the Tax Audit Reports, which were duly filed along with the income tax returns by the petitioner, were submitted along with the petitioner's bids. These Tax Audit Reports also contain the balance-sheets as on 31.03.2022 (Assessment Year 2022-2023), 31.03.2021 (Assessment Year 2021-2022), and 31.03.2020 (Assessment Year 2020-2021). 8. Admittedly, the Tax Audit Reports, and consequently, the balance-sheets and the profit and loss account for the relevant years did not bear the UDIN. The petitioner has placed on record the Chartered Accountant's certificate dated 08.12.2022, certifying the turnover of the petitioner from the Financial Year 2018-2019 to 2021-2022, which bears the UDIN. 9. xxxx 10.xxxx 11....
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....n GeM portal and the conditions stipulated in the bid document had to be scrupulously met. The bid document referred to submission of turnover certificate by the Chartered Accountant. The insistence on part of the authority for only such certificate to be considered of the Chartered Accountant which had Unique Document Identification Number apparently is consistent with the statutory notification issued on 2.8.2019. The Chartered Accountant, who has issued the certificate to the petitioner is clearly bound by the notification dated 2.8.2019. 7. We find no error in the decision of the respondents in not considering the petitioner's technical bid if the certificate was not in accordance with the statutory guidelines issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. It is otherwise the case of the respondents that apart from the petitioner, all others whose technical bid suffered from the same infirmity have been non-suited. The action of the authority, therefore, is found to be consistent and the discarding of petitioner's technical bid cannot be said to be arbitrary. This Court is also informed that GeM portal is an online format to facilitate award of cont....