M/S Sandip Lal Kedia and Anr v. The Union of India and 10 Ors

ORDER

24.06.2024 Heard Mr. A. Narzari, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. S.S. Roy, learned counsel for the respondents.

¶2The case of the petitioners is that the petitioners and "MP Sitani and sons" represented by its partner Sri Aditya Sitani, executed a Memorandum of Understanding, whereby "M.P. Sitani and sons" and the petitioners Page No.# 4/6 proprietorship firm entered into a joint venture, in the name of 'MPS and SLK JV'. The joint venture was made for the sole purpose of participating in the tender notice no.LMG-ENGG-24-2024. The petitioners counsel submits that in terms of the tender terms, the prospective bidders were to submit a list of works in progress for bid capacity evaluation, duly verified by Chartered Accountant.

¶2Though the Joint venture submitted a list of works in progress duly verified and certified by a Chartered Accountant, the petitioners bid was rejected on

14.06.2024, on the ground that their list of works in progress for bid capacity evaluation, was not certified by Chartered Accountant.

¶3I have perused page Nos.20 to 22 of the writ petition which pertains to the list of works under execution. The said documents at Page Nos.20 to 22 do not have any seal or signature of any Chartered Accountant. Clause-a of the tender form (Page 24 & 25 of the writ petition) requires the existing commitments and balance amount of ongoing works with each member of the JV, either in individual capacity or as a member of the JV, to be a part of the tender documents which should be duly verified by a Chartered Account. The relevant Clause-a, which is at Page 24 & 25 of the writ petition, is reproduced hereinbelow as follows:- "a. The Tenderer(s) shall furnish the details of - i. Maximum value of construction works executed and payment received in any one of the previous three financial years or the current financial year (up to date of inviting tender) for calculating A, and ii. Existing commitments and balance amount of ongoing Page No.# 5/6 works with tenderer as per the prescribed proforma of Railway for statement of all works in progress and also the works which are awarded to tenderer but yet not started upto the date of inviting of tender for calculating B. In case of no works in hand, a 'NIL' statement should be furnished. The submitted details for (i) and (ii) above should be duly verified by Chartered Accountant. b. In case if a bidder is JV, the tenderer(s) must furnish the details of

i) Maximum value of construction works executed and payment received in any one of the previous three financial years or the current financial year (up to date of inviting tender) by each member of JV for calculating A, and

ii. Existing commitments and balance amount of ongoing works with each member of JV either in individual capacity or as a member of other JV as per the prescribed proforma of Railway for statement of all works in progress and also the works which are awarded to each member of JV either in individual capacity or as a member of other JV but yet not started upto the date of inviting of tender for calculating B. In case of no works in hand, a 'NIL' statement should be furnished. The submitted details for (i) and (ii) above should be duly verified by Chartered Accountant."

¶4As stated earlier, the existing commitments and balance amount of ongoing works of the petitioners was required to be duly verified by a Chartered Account, which has not been done. However, the same has not been complied with, as per the terms and conditions of the tender notice. In that view of the matter, this Court does not find any ground to interfere with the rejection of the petitioners bid on 14.06.2024, on the ground that the list of works in progress for bid capacity evaluation, was not certified by a Chartered Accountant. Page No.# 6/6

¶5The writ petition is accordingly dismissed. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010123062024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3135/2024o M/SoSANDIPoLALoKEDIAoANDoANRo THEoPROPRIETORoFIRMoHAVINGoITSoREGISTEREDoOFFICEoAToDWARKAo ENCLAVE,oMALIGAON,oGUWAHATI-781011,oDIST.oKAMRUP(M),oASSAM 2:oSANDIPoKEDIA oTHEoPROPRIETORoOFoM/SoSANDIPoLALoKEDIA oR/O-oDWARKAoENCLAVE oMALIGAON oGUWAHATI-781011 oDIST.oKAMRUP(M) oASSAo VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo10oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHAIRMANoANDoCEOoOFoTHEoINDIANoRAILWAYS,o MINISTRYoOFoRAILWAYS,o21oRAILoBHAVAN,oRAISINAoROAD,oNEWoDELHI- 110001. 2:THEoCENTRALoVIGILANCEoCOMMISSION oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoEXECUTIVEoDIRECTORo(VIGILANCE) oTHEoCHIEFoVIGILANCEoOFFICER oSATARKATAoBHAVAN oBLOCK-A oGPOoCOMPLEX oINA oNEWoDELHI-110023. 3:THEoPRINCIPALoEXECUTIVEoDIRECTORo(VIGILANCE) oTHEoCHIEFoVIGILANCEoOFFICER oSATARKATAoBHAVAN oBLOCK-A PageoNo.#o2/6 oGPOoCOMPLEX oINA oNEWoDELHI-110023. 4:THEoDIVISIONALoRAILWAYoMANAGER/WORKS oNORTHoEASToFRONTIERoRAILWAY oLUMDING-782447 oDIST.oHOJAI oASSAM 5:THEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoENGINEERo(PCE) oNFoRAILWAY oMALIGAON oGUWAHATI oDIST.oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM oPIN-o781011. 6:THEoGENERALoMANAGERo(GM) oNFoRAILWAY oMALIGAON oGUWAHATI oDIST.oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM oPIN-o781011. 7:SHYAMoENGINEERINGoNAGAONoBAZAR oNEARoSHIVoMANDIR oLUMDING oDIST.oHOJAI oASSAM oPIN-o782447. 8:M/SoTRIBENIoCONSTRUCTIONoLIMITED o1SToFLOOR oULUBARI oG.S.oROAD oGUWAHATI oDIST.oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM oPIN-o781007. 9:M.K.oENGINEERING oRSoCOMPLEX Page No.# 3/6 BORAGAON DEVKOTA NAGAR KAMAKHYA GUWAHATI PIN- 781011 DIST. KAMRUP(M) ASSAM 10:M V V SATYANARAYANA 6-1-136/5/A WALKER TOWN SECUNDERABAD PIN- 500025 TELANGANA. 11:S M INTERIOR PRIVATE LIMITED DURGACHAK BLOCK-A HALDIA PURBA MEDINIPUR WEST BENGAL PIN- 721602 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A K DAS Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA