Orissa High Court
M/S Sakrobotix Lab Pvt. Ltd vs State Of Odisha And Others ..... ... on 18 August, 2023
Bench: B.R. Sarangi, Murahari Sri Raman
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
W.P (C) No. 26720 of 2023
And
I.A. No. 12754 of 2023
M/s Sakrobotix Lab Pvt. Ltd., BBSR ..... Petitioners
Mr. P. Acharya, Sr. Adv. along with
Mr. S.S. Tripathy, Adv.
Vs.
State of Odisha and others ..... Opposite Parties
Mr. T. Pattnaik, ASC
CORAM:
DR. JUSTICE B.R. SARANGI
MR. JUSTICE MURAHARI SRI RAMAN
ORDER
18.08.2023 Order No. This matter is taken up by hybrid mode.
01.
2. Heard Mr. P. Acharya, learned Senior Counsel appearing along with Mr. S.S. Tripathy, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. T. Pattnaik, learned Addl. Standing Counsel appearing for the State-Opposite Parties.
3. The petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking direction to the State-opposite parties to reject the bid and participation of opposite party no.4 in the process of tender bearing RFP No.OCAC-SEGP-INFRA-0025-2023-23028 dated 24.04.2023 under Annexure-2, and further seeks direction to the opposite parties to settle the bid with the petitioner, as the petitioner is the lowest bidder in the financial bid.
4. Mr. P. Acharya, learned Senior Counsel appearing along with Mr. S.S. Tripathy, learned counsel for the petitioner vehemently contended that opposite party no.4 incurred disqualification because it was blacklisted by the Bihar Skill Development Mission, Labour Resources Department, Govt. of Bihar. It is contended that as per clause-10 of the Request for Page 1 of 4 Proposal (RFP), which prescribed qualification/eligibility criteria, a bidder participating in the bidding process shall possess certain minimum pre-qualification/eligibility criteria as per table given therein and that any bidder failing to meet the said criteria shall be summarily rejected and will not be considered for technical evaluation. Under clause-10 of the RFP at page-41 of the brief, at sl.no.7, blacklisting has been prescribed. It is provided therein that the bidder should not be under a declaration on ineligibility for corrupt and fraudulent practices issued by any Government or PSU in India and to that extent a self declaration has to be made vide Annexure-4 to the table provided under clause-10. It is contended that even though opposite party no.4 was already blacklisted by the Bihar Skill Development Mission, Labour Resources Department, Govt. of Bihar, but the same was not disclosed by making self declaration as per Annexure-4 to the table given under clause-10 of the RFP. It is thus contended that since opposite party no.4 had incurred disqualification, consideration of its application by the tendering authority was absolutely void ab initio. Therefore, interference of this Court is sought for.
5. At this point of time, Mr. T. Pattnaik, learned Addl. Standing Counsel appearing for the State-Opposite Parties brings to the notice of the Court the letter dated 15.07.2023 issued by the Chief Executive Officer, Bihar Skill Development Mission, Labour Resources Department, Govt. of Bihar addressed to the Executive Director, EDCIL (India) Limited with regard to revocation of blacklisting of opposite party no.4 and contended that this letter was handed over to him by the Chief Executive Page 2 of 4 Officer, OCAC. It is contended that since blacklisting of opposite party no.4 has already been revoked, now opposite party no.4 cannot be considered to be ineligible.
6. But, perusal of the letter dated 15.07.2023, it appears that by the time opposite party no.4 made application in terms of the tender documents and, as such, the last date of submission of bid document being 22.05.2023, the disqualification of opposite party no.4 had continued, as the letter which has been produced in Court today is of 15.07.2023. Therefore, even though on 15.07.2023 Bihar Skill Development Mission, Labour Resources Department, Govt. of Bihar revoked the debarment order, that itself cannot validate the disqualification incurred by opposite party no.4 in terms of clause-10 of the RFP. Furthermore, as it appears, opposite party no.4 filed representation before the authority on 15.07.2023 and on the very same day the same was considered and the order of blacklisting was revoked on 15.07.2023 by the Bihar Skill Development Mission, Labour Resources Department, Govt. of Bihar. Therefore, this Court is surprised as to how said letter has been produced by the CEO, OCAC in the midst of hearing of the writ petition. In any case, this Court called upon the Chief Executive Officer, OCAC to file an affidavit by 24.08.2023 from which source he has received such document and how he has produced the same before this Court when the process of tender is under consideration by the authority. The Chief Executive Officer, OCAC is also directed to remain present before this Court on 24.08.2023 and apprise the Court with regard to factum of receipt of the aforesaid letter, as this clearly indicates that the opposite parties are validating the invalidated things by Page 3 of 4 entertaining the document in the midst of the process of tender, which is absolutely illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of law and, more so, the basic norms of the tender process.
7. In the opinion of this Court, the matter requires consideration.
8. Issue notice to the opposite parties.
9. One extra copy of the writ petition be served on Mr. T. Pattnaik, learned Addl. Standing Counsel appearing for the State- Opposite party no.1 by Monday (21.08.2023) enabling him to obtain instructions or file counter affidavit.
10. Steps for service of notice on the opposite parties no.2 to 4 by speed post be taken within three days. Office shall send notice to the said opposite parties fixing an early returnable date.
11. As an interim measure, it is directed that no further proceeding in the process of tender pursuant to Annexure-2 shall continue, till 24.08.2023.
12. List this matter on 24.08.2023.
Ashok (DR. B.R. SARANGI)
JUDGE
(M.S. RAMAN)
JUDGE
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
Signed by: ASHOK KUMAR JAGADEB MOHAPATRA
Designation: Personal Assistant
Reason: Authentication
Location: HIGH COURT OF ORISSA
Date: 18-Aug-2023 17:39:18
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