Pradeep Kumar Roy vs. Union Of INDIA

Held

The Court held that the Petitioner did not fulfill the special financial criteria as required by the tender document. Specifically, Annexure 'Y' of the tender document stipulated that a certificate of contractual receipt issued by a Chartered Accountant must be based on an audited balance sheet. The Petitioner submitted a certificate (Annexure P-4) which was derived from an unaudited balance sheet and did not comply with this requirement. The Petitioner also failed to submit an audited balance sheet. The Court found no arbitrariness in the eligibility criteria fixed by the Railways. Regarding the Petitioner's challenge to Respondent No. 5's bid, the Court noted that while there was a typographical error in the description of an uploaded document (ZAFFI instead of Affidavit 'Z'), the affidavit itself was in the prescribed format and the Railways' decision-making process was not found to be erroneous. Therefore, the writ petition was dismissed.

Facts

The Petitioner, Pradeep Kumar Roy, participated in a tender floated by the South Eastern Central Railway for the construction of a boundary wall. The Petitioner challenged the award of the contract to Respondent No. 5, alleging that his tender was rejected despite submitting all prescribed documents. He argued that his turnover was less than Rs. 1 crore, thus not requiring an audited balance sheet, and that he had submitted a certificate of contractual receipt issued by a Chartered Accountant, which satisfied the special financial criteria. The Railways contended that the tender required an audited balance sheet or a certificate based on an audited balance sheet to ascertain financial capacity, and that the Petitioner failed to meet this requirement.

Key Issues

1. Whether the Petitioner fulfilled the special financial criteria stipulated in the tender document, specifically Clause-1 and Annexure 'Y', for the award of the contract? (Question of law and fact, concerning the interpretation of tender conditions). - Petitioner's argument: Submitted a certificate of contractual receipt from a Chartered Accountant, which is one of the three acceptable documents under the special financial criteria. Argued that an audited balance sheet was not mandatory for him due to his turnover being less than Rs. 1 crore. - Revenue's (Railways) argument: The special financial criteria, including Annexure 'Y', require an audited balance sheet or a certificate based on an audited balance sheet to assess the contractor's financial capacity. The Petitioner's submitted certificate was based on an unaudited balance sheet and thus did not meet the requirement.