Amit Kumar Singh vs. The State Of Jharkhand
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The petitioner, Amit Kumar Singh, filed a writ petition challenging a work order dated 07.06.2019 issued to respondent no. 5 and a decision dated 06.03.2019 by the Procurement Committee, headed by respondent no. 4 (Commissioner, Giridih Municipal Corporation), which declared the petitioner disqualified. The petitioner participated in an e-tender for construction of a community hall. The petitioner claimed to have fulfilled all requirements, but was disqualified for submitting a GST Clearance Certificate only up to December 2018, instead of January 2019 as stipulated in the tender notice. The petitioner argued that a notification permitted filing January returns by 22.02.2019. The respondents contended that the petitioner's GST certificate was not up-to-date as per the tender conditions requiring it up to January 2019, leading to disqualification.
Held
The Court held that the petitioner's contention regarding Notification No. 09/2019-Central Tax dated 20.02.2019 had no force. The Court reasoned that even if the notification permitted filing of the January 2019 return by 22.02.2019, the petitioner was still obligated to conform to the specific terms and conditions of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT). The NIT clearly stipulated that the GST Clearance Certificate had to be up-to-date, meaning up to January 2019. The Court found no reason for the petitioner to wait until the last date for submission of the January 2019 return; he should have filed it promptly and submitted the corresponding clearance certificate to meet the tender requirements. The Procurement Committee's decision to disqualify the petitioner based on the incomplete GST Clearance Certificate was found to be in line with the NIT conditions. The Court noted that other bidders met the technical qualifications, and respondent no. 5 was the lowest bidder with superior work experience, leading to the award of the work order. Therefore, the Court found no infirmity in the decision-making process of the Procurement Committee.
Key Issues
1. Whether the disqualification of the petitioner's technical bid was illegal and arbitrary, considering the provisions of Notification No. 09/2019-Central Tax dated 20.02.2019, which permitted filing of January 2019 returns by 22.02.2019? Petitioner's argument: The petitioner contended that the Procurement Committee erred in disqualifying him for not submitting a GST Clearance Certificate up to January 2019. He relied on Notification No. 09/2019-Central Tax dated 20.02.2019, which allowed assessees to file their January 2019 GSTR-3B return by 22.02.2019. Therefore, his GST Clearance Certificate up to December 2018 should have been considered sufficient, or at least the delay in submission should have been condoned in light of the notification. Revenue/State's argument: The respondents argued that the decision of the Procurement Committee was bonafide, legal, and justified. They maintained that paragraph 1(b) of the tender notice explicitly required an up-to-date GST Clearance Certificate, meaning up to January 2019. Since the petitioner failed to meet this specific requirement of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT), his bid was rightly rejected at the technical bid stage. They asserted no infirmity in the decision-making process.
Sections Cited
Section 1(b) of NIT
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI W.P.(C) No. 4390 of 2019
Amit Kumar Singh
... … Petitioner Versus
The State of Jharkhand
The Secretary, Urban Development and Housing Department, Jharkhand, Ranchi
The Deputy Commissioner, Giridih
The Commissioner (Nagar Ayukta), Giridih Municipal Corporation, Giridih
Bharat Kumar Mishra
… … Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR -----
For the Petitioner
: Mr. Krishna Nand Sahay, Advocate
For the Respondent-State : Mr. Deepankar, AC to AG
For the Respondent No. 5 : Mr. Shailendra Kumar Singh, Advocate -----
Order No. 05
Dated: 26.02.2020
The present writ petition has been filed for quashing the work order dated 07.06.2019 (Annexure-5 series to the writ petition) allotted in favour of the respondent no. 5 by the Procurement Committee headed by the respondent no. 4 – the Commissioner (Nagar Ayukta), Giridih Municipal Corporation, Giridih. The petitioner has also prayed for quashing the decision of the Procurement Committee headed by the respondent no. 4 dated 06.03.2019, whereby the petitioner has been declared disqualified in connection with the tender in question.
The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner participated in pursuance of e-tender notice dated 06.02.2019 issued under the signature of the respondent no. 4 for construction of two storey Community Hall-cum-Ward Vikash Kendra at Mohalichunwa, Ward No. 26 under Giridih Municipal Corporation, Giridih. Though the petitioner duly fulfilled all the requirements of the said NIT, yet he was illegally declared disqualified by the Procurement Committee vide its decision dated 06.03.2019. According to the petitioner, though he submitted the GST Clearance Certificate till December 2018, yet the same was considered to be not up-to-date by the Procurement Committee. Though the petitioner submitted his
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tender within the prescribed time i.e., from 08.02.2019 to 22.02.2019, however, he could not submit the GST Clearance Certificate till January 2019. However, the Government of India through the Ministry of Finance vide Notification No. 09/2019-Central Tax dated 20.02.2019 had permitted the assessees to file return for the month of January in FORM GSTR-3B on or before 22.02.2019. Hence, even if the petitioner did not submit the GST Clearance Certificate till January 2019, the same should not have been treated to be a ground for disqualification by the Procurement Committee in its decision dated 06.03.2019. Hence, the work order dated 07.06.2019 issued by the said committee in favour of the respondent no. 5 may also be set aside.
A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent no. 4 stating inter alia that the decision of the Procurement Committee is completely bonafide, legal and justified. On opening and scrutinizing of the technical bids of the tenderers, it was found that GST Clearance Certificate submitted by the petitioner was not up-to-date, rather it was up-to December 2018. As per paragraph 1(b) of the terms and conditions of the NIT dated 06.02.2019, the self-attested copies of Goods & Services Tax (GST) registration certificate with up-to-date GST Clearance Certificate was required to be filed by the tenderers i.e., up-to the month of January 2019. Since the petitioner was declared technically disqualified due to the said reason, his bid was rejected at the said stage itself. There is no infirmity in the decision making process undertaken by the Procurement Committee and as such, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed.
Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record.
Admittedly, the petitioner submitted the GST Clearance Certificate till December 2018. The chart prepared by the Procurement Committee (Annexure-B series to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondent no. 4) suggests that all other tenderers except the petitioner submitted the GST Clearance
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Certificate till January 2019. Only the petitioner submitted the GST Clearance Certificate till December 2018. Having found the said infirmity, the Procurement Committee in its decision dated 06.03.2019 declared the technical bid of the petitioner as disqualified. The bids of rest three bidders including the respondent no. 5 were found technically qualified and thus, a decision was taken to open their financial bids on 07.03.2019 at 1.30 pm. On opening of the financial bid, the respondent no. 5 was found to be the lowest bidder and having more work experience than another bidder namely, Geeta Devi quoting similar rate. Accordingly, he was awarded the work in question. The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that vide notification dated 20.02.2019, the assessees were permitted to submit the return for the month of January 2019 till 22.02.2019 and, therefore, the State respondents should have accepted the GST Clearance Certificate submitted by the petitioner till December 2018 has no force. Even if vide said notification dated 20.02.2019, the assessees were permitted to file the return of January 2019 till 22.02.2019, the petitioner had to conform to the requirements of the terms and conditions of the NIT. There was no reason for him to wait for the last date of submission of return for the month of January 2019, rather he should have filed the return for the month of January 2019 promptly and had to submit the GST Clearance Certificate till January 2019 so as to participate in the NIT in question. The other bidders were technically found qualified on opening of the financial bid and the bid of the respondent no. 5 was found lowest one having more work experience than another bidder namely, Geeta Devi quoting similar rate of tender and accordingly, he was awarded the work in question.
Hence, I see no infirmity in the decision making process undertaken by the Procurement Committee headed by the respondent no. 4. 7. The writ petition being devoid of merit is accordingly dismissed. Manish
(Rajesh Shankar, J.)
Reproduced from the public record of the Jharkhand High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.