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The Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. & Ors. v. AMR Dev Prabha & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 307Decided 18 Mar 2020
Civil Appeal No. 2197 of 2020
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice Surya Kant

Background

Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL), a public sector coal company, ran an online reverse e-auction for a large mining services contract. Midway through the auction, an internet connectivity fault caused one bidder's (AMR-Dev Prabha's) bid to go unanswered for the required 30 minutes, automatically closing the auction with that bid as the apparent lowest. The auction operator restarted the process after confirming the technical fault, and a different company (RK Transport) ultimately won with a lower bid in the extended round. AMR-Dev Prabha challenged the award in the High Court, which found procedural lapses and quashed the contract award, prompting BCCL's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that writ jurisdiction over government tenders is reserved for cases involving a genuine public-interest violation or clear illegality, not ordinary commercial grievances between rival bidders, and here, AMR-Dev Prabha's challenge was aimed purely at securing the contract for itself at a higher price to the public exchequer, which did not serve any public interest. On the merits, the Court found that multiple independent technical investigations (including by India's national Computer Emergency Response Team) had confirmed the connectivity fault was genuine, justifying the auction's resumption, and that any procedural irregularities fell short of illegality or bad faith. The High Court's judgment was set aside, BCCL's appeals were allowed, and AMR-Dev Prabha's writ petition was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

An unsuccessful bidder cannot use a writ petition to re-fight a losing commercial outcome in a government tender; courts will only intervene in tender disputes where there is genuine public interest at stake or clear illegality, bad faith, or irrationality in the process.

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

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