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2014 DIGILAW 1130 (JHR)

Barbrik Project Limited, Chattisgarh through its Director v. State of Jharkhand

2014-11-19

SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR

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ORDER : Aggrieved by decision of the Tender Committee dated 18.09.2014 whereby the bid of the petitioner-Company has been rejected, the present writ petition has been filed. 2. The petitioner-Company pursuant to notice dated 30.07.2014 of the Road Construction Department, Government of Jharkhand inviting bids through e-tender for widening and strengthening/reconstruction of Ramrekha Dham Road measuring 27.325 kms., for approximate value of Rs.64,51,40,000.00, participated in the tender process and duly submitted all required documents. However, the petitioner came to know that vide decision dated 18.09.2014, the bid of the petitioner Company has been rejected on the ground that the bank guarantee furnished by the petitioner bears the date 30.07.2014 as date of submission of the bid which is incorrect and thus, the bank guarantee was invalid. 3. Mr. M.S. Mittal, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner-Company has submitted that the bid security (bank guarantee) furnished by the petitioner was though strictly in terms of the format for bid security, a copy of which has been annexed as Annexure5 to this writ petition, the bid of the petitioner has been rejected on the ground that the bid security document contains a wrong date of bid, 30.07.2014. It is submitted that the bid was kept open between the period 12.08.2014 and 25.08.2014 and it is impossible for a bidder to prepare a bank guarantee, the day on which the bidder intends to submit its bid and therefore, the bank has rightly put the tender notice date on the bid security document. 4. Mr. Anil Kumar, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent-State of Jharkhand resisted the prayer of the petitioner and submitted that the bid of the petitioner has rightly been rejected because it does not fulfill the SBD conditions. 5. I have carefully considered the submission of Mr. M.S. Mittal, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner and the counsel for the respondent-State of Jharkhand and perused the documents on record. 6. A perusal of the bid security (bank guarantee) furnished by the petitioner indicates that the date of submission of bid has been mentioned as 30.07.2014 whereas, the format of the bid security requires the date of submission of the bid to be mentioned in the bid security document issued by the bank. In the present proceeding, the petitioner has not disclosed the date of submission of its bid. In the present proceeding, the petitioner has not disclosed the date of submission of its bid. The tender document dated 30.07.2014 discloses that the bid could have been submitted between the period 12.08.2014 and 25.08.2014. The original bank guarantee, a copy of which has been annexed as Annexure6 does not disclose the date of issue by the State Bank of India. It further discloses that the guarantee period is between 28.02.2014 and 21.04.2015. It is thus clear that, the bank guarantee was prepared on 22.08.2014 and therefore, the bid security document could not have mentioned a date prior to preparation of the bank guarantee. 7. It is well settled that, a tender who failed to comply with the conditions of the tender, cannot claim as a matter of right that its bid should be considered and it is not entitled for grant of any relief from the Writ Court. The bid security document furnished by the petitioner could not have been accepted by the Tender Committee because on 30.07.2014, it could not have been submitted by a bidder. 8. A tender must comply with the conditions of the tender document. A bid which is not in terms of the tender document is liable to be rejected. The tender document provides for correction of errors in case of “financial bid” and such corrections are limited to correction of the arithmetical error only. The bid document does not provide correction in the technical bid and therefore, the bid submitted by the petitioner has rightly been rejected. 9. I find no merit and accordingly, this writ petition is dismissed.