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Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. & Anr. v. M/S Amar Infrastructure Ltd. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 4248 of 2017)Decided 9 Mar 2017
Civil Appeal No. 4248 of 2017
Justice Arun Mishra · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

The Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) floated a tender for an infrastructure upgradation project at Sirgitti, Bilaspur, which was ultimately awarded to M/s Raipur Construction Pvt. Ltd. after a technical evaluation process. The respondent, M/s Amar Infrastructure Ltd., itself a disqualified bidder, challenged not the winning bidder's qualification but that of a rival (L-2) bidder, M/s Arcons Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., alleging manipulation of the technical evaluation documents (particularly around a "Hot Mix Plant" requirement) and relying on a cyber-crime cell report and an unsigned document. The Chhattisgarh High Court accepted this challenge and quashed the contract, leading CSIDC and the successful contractor to appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the original tender evaluation records and found no manipulation in the documents actually placed before and signed by the Technical Evaluation Committee; the unsigned document relied upon by the respondent was of no legal consequence. It held that possession of a Hot Mix Plant was never a mandatory pre-qualification criterion, so even assuming some deficiency, it would not have disqualified the L-2 bidder or changed the outcome. The Court further noted that the respondent itself had been validly disqualified and was not raising a genuine public-interest grievance but was really trying to force a re-tender to protect its own commercial interest: a dispute purely between rival tenderers in which courts should be reluctant to interfere. Finding no merit in the writ petition, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment and allowed the appeals, with parties bearing their own costs.

Lesson Learnt

Courts are generally reluctant to interfere in tender disputes that are really just commercial fights between competing bidders rather than genuine public-interest challenges, and a bidder cannot get a contract award overturned by pointing to an unsigned, unofficial document when the properly signed official evaluation records show no actual irregularity in the mandatory criteria.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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