ORDER : The writ petition was initially filed seeking a direction upon the respondent nos.1 to 6 to award the contract of hiring of HEMM for removal of OB and extraction and transportation of coal from different seams of Kantapahari Patch II of AKWMC Colliery and AARC of Katras area. This writ petition was filed on 05.11.2014 and an interlocutory application being, I.A. No. 5703 of 2014 was filed on 07.11.2014 seeking permission to challenge letter of acceptance dated 05.11.2014 issued in favour of respondent no.7. The amendment application was allowed vide order dated 11.11.2014 and thus, letter of acceptance dated 05.11.2014 is also under challenge. 2. The brief facts of the case are that, on 16.05.2014 notice inviting tender for award of the contract was issued. The last date for submission of bid was 07.07.2014 and the technical bid was scheduled to be opened on 08.07.2014. Subsequently, the time for submission of bid was extended till 16.07.2014 and opening of technical bid was also postponed for 17.07.2014. The petitioner submitted its bid on 16.07.2014 and as scheduled, the technical bid was opened on 17.07.2014 in which seven participants including the petitioner were found qualified. The finance/ price bid was opened on 29.09.2014 and by a Fax communication dated 14.10.2014, the petitioner was informed that it is declared L1 in the price bid. However, when no letter of acceptance was issued to the petitioner, it made representation on 20.10.2014, 28.10.2014 and 30.10.2014. The meeting of the Tender Committee was held on 31.10.2014 and the letter of acceptance in favour of the respondent no.7 was issued on 05.11.2014. 3. A counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent BCCL stating that the tender was finalised in a fair and transparent process. The bidder is required to submit price bid as required under Clause 12.2 of the Instructions to bidders. On 07.07.2014, six bids were submitted whereas, on the extended date, that is, 16.07.2014 three bids including the bid of the petitioner were received. Besides that, two revised offers were submitted by the respondent no.7 and one M/s. International Commerce Limited. The Tender Committee in its meeting held on 27.09.2014 decided to open the price bid (Part II) of the seven Techno-commercially qualified tenderers and accordingly, on 29.09.2014 the price bids/ offers were opened in presence of the authorised representatives of the tenderers. Besides that, two revised offers were submitted by the respondent no.7 and one M/s. International Commerce Limited. The Tender Committee in its meeting held on 27.09.2014 decided to open the price bid (Part II) of the seven Techno-commercially qualified tenderers and accordingly, on 29.09.2014 the price bids/ offers were opened in presence of the authorised representatives of the tenderers. The price bid of the petitioner contained two separate smaller envelopes attached/pasted with the main envelope of the price bid marked as “Modification Cover” and “Further Modification Cover”. 4. Heard learned counsel appearing for the parties. 5. Mr. R.S. Mazumdar, the learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that in view of the extended time for submission of bid, the petitioner submitted its bid on 16.07.2014 with modified offers dated 05.07.2014 and 07.07.2014. Vide letter dated 05.07.2014, the petitioner had offered a rebate of 2.48% on the quoted rates and vide letter dated 07.07.2014, it offered further rebates for different items in terms of the revised offer of the petitioner. The petitioner's bid was declared L1 and it was duly communicated vide Fax communication dated 14.10.2014. The price difference in the bid price of the petitioner and respondent no.7 is more than 12 crores and thus, award of contract to the respondent no.7 would result in huge loss to public exchequer. Relying on a decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in “Poddar Steel Corporation Vs. Ganesh Engineering Works and Ors.”, reported in (1991) 3 SCC 273 , the learned senior counsel contends that for minor defects, the price bid of the petitioner has been arbitrarily rejected by the respondent BCCL. 6. Mr. Anoop Kumar Mehta, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent nos.1 to 5 referred to various Clauses of Contract and submitted that the bid submitted by the petitioner was not in terms of the Tender document and therefore, it has been rightly rejected. 7. Mr. Ajit Kumar, the learned counsel for respondent no.7 submitted that on the request of the petitioner that he was kidnapped, the last date for submission of bid was extended to 16.07.2014. The learned counsel refers to letter dated 08.07.2014 and submits that in case of submission of revised bid, only revised bid was required to be opened. Since the bid submitted by the petitioner on 16.07.2014 was not a revised bid, communications dated 05.07.2014 and 07.07.2014 could not have been considered. 8. The learned counsel refers to letter dated 08.07.2014 and submits that in case of submission of revised bid, only revised bid was required to be opened. Since the bid submitted by the petitioner on 16.07.2014 was not a revised bid, communications dated 05.07.2014 and 07.07.2014 could not have been considered. 8. I have carefully considered the submissions of the counsel for the parties and perused the documents on record. 9. It is well settled that in tender matters, the parties are bound by the conditions of Tender and the conditions are required to be followed strictly. Before referring to the rival contentions made on behalf of the parties, relevant Clauses of the Tender Document may be noticed usefully: 11. Documents comprising the Bid: The Bid, comprising of two parts, will be submitted by the Bidders as follows: (a) The envelope marked as “Cost of Tender Document and the undertaking” if any for such bidders who have downloaded the Tender Document from website has to put in the outer envelope. (b) Envelope for Bid security/ Earnest Money Deposit. (c) Envelope for Tecnho-commercial Bid (Part-I) of the bid is to be submitted in sealed envelope comprising of: (i) Letter of the Bidder submitting the bid in the form as stipulated in contractor's bid of section2. (ii) Qualification information as indicated in section2 and documents as required in accordance with stipulations of Section2 and any other materials required to be completed and submitted by bidder in accordance with these instructions. (iii) The original bid document issued to the bidder duly signed by authorized signatory of the bidder on all pages as proof of accepting the conditions of contract (excluding the price bid). (d) Envelope for price Bid (PartII) of the Bid is to be submitted in sealed envelope comprising of priced bill of quantities. (e) All the four sealed envelopes will then be placed in one outer envelope, sealed and marked properly as per clause 17 and submitted to the employer at its address before the deadline for submission of the bid as described in clause 18. 12. Bid Prices: 12.1 The bidder shall offer for the whole works as described in sub clause 1.1, based on the priced bill of quantities submitted by the Bidder. However, the Employer reserves the right to allot part of the work at their discretion and no claims, whatsoever, shall be entertained in this regard. 12. Bid Prices: 12.1 The bidder shall offer for the whole works as described in sub clause 1.1, based on the priced bill of quantities submitted by the Bidder. However, the Employer reserves the right to allot part of the work at their discretion and no claims, whatsoever, shall be entertained in this regard. 12.2 The Bidder shall fillin rates and prices for all items of the works described in the bill of quantities. Corrections, if any, shall be made by crossing out, initialing, dating and rewriting. 12.3 (a) All duties, taxes and other levies payable by the contractor under the contract or by any other cause as applicable on the last date of submission of tender, shall be included in the rates, prices and the total Bid Price submitted by the Bidder. All incidentals, overheads etc. as may be attendant upon execution and completion of works shall also be included in the rates, prices and the Bid price submitted by the Bidder. However, such duties, taxes, levies etc which is notified after the last date of submission of tender and/or any increase over the rate existing on the last date of submission of tender shall be reimbursed by the company on production of documentary evidence in support of payment actually made to the concerned authorities. Any decrease in duties, taxes, levies etc. as above shall be recovered by the company. (b) Service Tax applicable for this work will be paid by the contractor, hence the rate in the BOQ/ Price Bid to be quoted by the bidder should be inclusive of Service Tax. After award of work, contractor shall mention the Service Tax Registration No., rate and amount separately in the bill. 12.4 The rates and prices quoted by the bidder shall be fixed for the duration of the contract and shall not be subject to variations on any account except to the extend variations allowed as per the conditions of the contract of the bidding document. 16. Format and Signing of Bid: 16.1 The Bidder shall prepare the bidding documents comprising the Bid as described in Clause11 of these instructions to Bidders. 16.2 All documents of the Bid shall be typed or written in indelible ink and shall be signed by a person or persons duly authorized to sign on behalf of the Bidder, pursuant to Clause3.2. Format and Signing of Bid: 16.1 The Bidder shall prepare the bidding documents comprising the Bid as described in Clause11 of these instructions to Bidders. 16.2 All documents of the Bid shall be typed or written in indelible ink and shall be signed by a person or persons duly authorized to sign on behalf of the Bidder, pursuant to Clause3.2. All pages of the Bid documents shall be initialed by the person or persons signing the Bid. 16.3 The Bid shall contain no alterations, or additions, except those to comply with instructions issued the Employer, or as necessary to correct errors made by the Bidder, in which case such corrections shall be initialed by the person or persons signing the Bid. Erasing or overwriting in the bid document may disqualify the bidder. 17. Sealing and Marking of Bids: 17.1 Sealed Tenders/ bids have to be submitted by the tenderers in four envelopes duly sealed in, in one outer envelope indicating full postal address and telephone nos. of the tenderers. Four Envelopes as mentioned above will consist of : (1) Envelope for cost of tender document & undertaking (in case tender document is downloaded from website), (2) Envelope for Earnest Money Deposit, (3) Envelope for Techno commercial bid (PartI) and (4) Envelope for Price Bid (PartII). Outer sealed envelope will be marked as “Bidding Documents for …...” 17.2 The inner envelopes placed in outer envelopes shall: (a) be addressed to the Employer at the following address: General Manager (CMC), BCCL, LevelV, Koyla Bhawan, Dhanbad 826005. (b) inner and outer envelopes will bear the following additional identification: * Bid for …....... * Bid Reference No. …...... * DO NOT OPEN BEFORE ….. Hrs. ON …....... 17.3 In addition to the identification required in sub-Clause 17.2 the inner and outer envelopes shall indicate the name and address of the Bidder. 17.4 If the outer envelope is not sealed and marked as above, the Employer will assume no responsibility for the misplacement or premature opening of the bid. 18. Deadline for submission of Bids: 18.1 Bids shall be delivered to the Employer at the address specified above no later than 03.30 PM on 07.07.2014 in the event of the specified date for the submission of bids being declared a holiday for the Employer, the Bids will be received up to the appointed time on the next working day. 18. Deadline for submission of Bids: 18.1 Bids shall be delivered to the Employer at the address specified above no later than 03.30 PM on 07.07.2014 in the event of the specified date for the submission of bids being declared a holiday for the Employer, the Bids will be received up to the appointed time on the next working day. 18.2 The Employer may extend the deadline for submission of Bids by issuing an amendment in accordance with Clause 9, in which case all rights and obligations of the Employer and the Bidders previously subject to the original deadline will then be subject to the new deadline. 20. Modification and Withdrawal of Bids: 20.1 Bidder may modify or withdraw their Bids by giving notice in writing before the deadline prescribed in Clause 18 in case the bidder has submitted the bid well before the deadline. 20.2 Each Bidder's modification or withdrawal notice shall be prepared, sealed, marked and delivered in accordance with the provisions of Clause 11, 16, 17 and 18 with the outer and inner envelopes additionally marked “Modification” or Withdrawal”, as appropriate. 20.3 No Bid may be modified after the deadline for submission of Bids. 20.4 Withdrawal of a Bid between the deadline for submission of Bids and the expiration of the period of Bid validity specified in the Bidding Data or as extended pursuant to SubClause 14.2 may result in the forfeiture of the Bid Security pursuant to Clause15. 21. Bid Opening: 21.1. After opening of outer envelope of the bids, in the presence of the bidder's or their representatives who choose to attend at the time and in the place specified in Clause 18, the Employer will first open (1) envelope containing cost of tender document & undertaking (in case tender document is downloaded from website) and (2) envelope containing Earnest Money. If these are found to be in order as per requirement of NIT, then only the techno-commercial bid (Part-I) of the tender including modifications made pursuant to Clause 20, shall be opened. Otherwise the tender is to be rejected without opening Part-I. In the event of the specified date of Bid opening being declared a holiday for the Employer, the Bids will be opened at the appointed time and location on the next working day. Otherwise the tender is to be rejected without opening Part-I. In the event of the specified date of Bid opening being declared a holiday for the Employer, the Bids will be opened at the appointed time and location on the next working day. If in this process only one tenderer emerges as valid tender after opening of Envelope containing cost of tender document (in case the document is downloaded from website) and Envelope containing EMD, the techno-commercial bid (Part-I) is not to be opened and the same should be treated as single tender and processed as per provisions of CMM for processing single tender. 21.2 The part-II of the Bids of the bidders, which are substantially responsive and conforms to the terms and conditions, will be opened after evaluation of Part-I offer and notified to the bidders who fulfill the requisite qualification criteria laid down in the bidding document. In the event of the specified date of bid opening being declared a holiday for the employer, the bids will be opened at the appointed time and location on the next working day. 21.3 Envelopes marked “Withdrawal” shall be opened and read out first. Bids for which an acceptable notice of withdrawal has been submitted pursuant to Clause20 shall not be opened. 21.4 The Bidders' names, the Bid prices, the total amount of each Bid and any discounts, bid modifications and withdrawals, the presence or absence of bid security, and such other details as the Employer may consider appropriate, will be announced by the Employer at the opening.” 10. It is clear that in terms of Clause 11 of the Instruction to Bidders documents are to be submitted in 4 sealed envelopes namely- (a) Envelope marked as cost of tender document and the undertaking. (b) Envelope for bid security/ earnest money deposit. (c) Envelope for Techno Commercial Bid (Part I). (d) Envelope for price bid (part II). 11. Clause 20 of the Instructions to bidders provides that the bidders may modify or withdraw their bids by giving notice in writing before the deadline prescribed in Clause 18, in case the bidder has submitted the bid before the deadline. The modification or withdrawal notice is required to be prepared, sealed, marked and delivered in accordance with the provisions of Clause 11, 16, 17 and 18 with the outer and inner envelopes additionally marked “Modification” or “Withdrawal”. 12. The modification or withdrawal notice is required to be prepared, sealed, marked and delivered in accordance with the provisions of Clause 11, 16, 17 and 18 with the outer and inner envelopes additionally marked “Modification” or “Withdrawal”. 12. It is admitted by the learned senior counsel that the petitioner submitted its bid on 16.07.2014. The letters dated 05.07.2014 and 07.07.2014 thus, cannot be construed as revised bid. The learned senior counsel has submitted that in view of extended date of submission for bids, the petitioner submitted its bid alongwith revised bids on 16.07.2014 and thus, the rebates offered by the petitioner should have been considered. The submission of the learned senior counsel cannot be accepted. When the petitioner submitted its bid only on 16.07.2014, it could not have offered rebate vide letters dated 05.07.2014 and 07.07.2014. In compliance of order dated 11.11.2014, original records including the envelope containing bid submitted by the petitioner have been produced in the Court and I have perused the same. I find that the bid submitted by the petitioner was not in terms of Clause 11, 17 and 20 of the Tender Document. The envelopes marked as “Modification Cover” and “Further Modification Cover” submitted by the petitioner contained letters dated 05.07.2014 and 07.07.2014 and thus, the price bid of the petitioner has rightly not been considered. Though, communication dated 14.10.2014 declaring the petitioner's bid lowest (L1) has been denied, even if it is assumed that the petitioner was the lowest bidder, the fact remains that its so-called revised bid was not a revised/ modified bid and thus, it has rightly been rejected. The learned senior counsel has relied on several judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court however, I find that none of the judgments are relevant in the facts of the present case. In “Air India Ltd. Vs Cochin International Airport Ltd. & Ors.”, reported in (2000) 2 SCC 617 , the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held thus:- 7. “….............. Even when some defect is found in the decision-making process the court must exercise its discretionary power 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. 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 not intervene.” 13. In view of the above discussion, I find no merit in this case and accordingly, this writ petition is dismissed.