Pritam Das Manikpuri vs. Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited

Held

The Court held that the petitioner's subsequent production of the GST registration certificate on October 15, 2018, could not rectify his failure to meet the cut-off date of October 3, 2018. The Court found that the GST registration was an integral requirement for participating in the Notice Inviting Tender. It further observed that the petitioner himself was responsible for the delay, having applied for GST registration only on October 2, 2018, one day before the tender opening. Consequently, the Court found no merit in the writ petition and declined to issue any directions for the consideration of the petitioner's technical bid. The ratio decidendi is that failure to meet a mandatory eligibility criterion by the stipulated deadline, due to the applicant's own delay, disentitles them from relief, even if the criterion is subsequently met.

Facts

The petitioner, Pritam Das Manikpuri, filed a writ petition challenging his exclusion from a tender process. The tender required participants to possess a GST registration certificate by the cut-off date of October 3, 2018. The petitioner applied for GST registration for the first time on October 2, 2018, one day before the tender opening. He subsequently obtained the registration certificate on October 15, 2018, after the cut-off date. The petitioner sought directions for his technical bid to be considered. The respondents are the Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited and its officials.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner, having obtained his GST registration certificate after the stipulated cut-off date, is entitled to participate in the tender process, considering the requirement for GST registration as integral to the tender notice. The petitioner argued that the subsequent production of the GST registration certificate should be considered, implying a plea for condonation of delay or a flexible interpretation of the tender conditions. The respondents, through the Court's observation, contended that the cut-off date for GST registration was a mandatory requirement for participation in the tender, and the petitioner's failure to meet this deadline due to his own delay in applying for registration should disqualify him. The Court noted the petitioner's latches and delay in applying for GST registration.