Gujarat High Court Quashes Grant Of Tender, Holds Fresh Auction In Open Court

The Gujarat High Court recently quashed a tender granted to M.S. Traders on the ground that the portal through which the auction was to be finalized did not work on the last date of the auction. The plea before the court sought re-auction for the tender published by Gujarat Secondary & Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB),

The division bench of the Acting Chief Justice A. J. Desai and Justice Biren Vaishnav conducted the re-auction in the courtroom itself after the parties agreed to it. 

Amina Traders had sought a direction to hold re-auction of tender floated by GSHSEB on the ground that the portal link of the auction did not work on the last date of the auction i.e. September 30, 2022 from 6 p.m. onwards till 12 a.m. of October 1, 2022, and therefore it could not participate even after trying his level best.

The auction was finalized through Government E-Market Place (GeM) and the Board had accepted the tender submitted by M.S. Traders. In response to the notice, the affidavit filed by Director, Government e-Marketplace stated as follows:

“That as per the planned downtime, the portal was put under maintenance from 9:00 pm onwards on 30.09.2022. The deployment however, got extended beyond 10:00 pm, and the system was fully up at around 2:00 am on 01.10.2022. In view of the same, the system downtime period was from 09:00 PM till 02:00 AM.”

The court then proceeded with a fresh auction in the courtroom itself in the presence of their parties and advocate A.D.Oza, who appeared for the Gujarat Secondary Education Board.

“Initially, the present petitioner had shown his readiness and willingness to offer an amount of Rs.25,00,000/- (Rs.Twenty Five Lakhs Only/-) in addition to the tender granted to the tune of Rs.59.90 lakhs. Thereafter, the respondent No.3, enhanced the same amount and ultimately the last offer was made by the present petitioner to the tune of Rs.2,52,00,000/- (Rs. Two Crores and Fifty Two Lakhs Only/-),” said the court.

The court further noted that M.S. Traders. could not raise the  amount offered by the petitioner in the auction and therefore the offer made by the petitioner was required to be accepted.

Thus, the court quashed and set aside the tender granted in favour of the M.S. Traders.

“The petitioner shall file an undertaking about the offer made in the open Court i.e. to the tune of Rs.2,52,00,000/- (Rs.Two Crores & Fifty Two Lakhs Only/-) on, or before, 03.05.2023 at 5:00 p.m. before this Court and a copy thereof be supplied to the learned advocate Mr.A.D.Oza failing which the original order accepting the tender in favour of the respondent no.3 shall be revived. Subsequent proceedings, including granting of contract shall be proceeded by the Board in accordance with law. The amount shall be paid as per the tender notice and as per the contract which shall follow the tender notice,” the court added.

Case Title: Amina Traders v. Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board

Case Citation: 2023 Livelaw (Guj) 87

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