Patna High Court - Orders
Derby Merchantile Pvt. Ltd. vs The State Of Bihar on 19 November, 2019
Author: Rajeev Ranjan Prasad
Bench: Rajeev Ranjan Prasad
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.20381 of 2019
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Derby Merchantile Pvt. Ltd. a company registered under the Companies Act,
having its office at Chitkohra, Mahabir Nagar, Gardanibag, Patna through its
Director Sanjeev Kumar Singh, aged about 36 years (male), Son of Baliram
Singh, resident of Gram Baghini, P.S. Mohania Baghni, P.O. Harnathpur,
District-Kaimur (Bhabhua).
... ... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Food and Consumer
Protection Department, Government of Bihar, Old Secretariat, Patna-
800015.
2. The Principal Secretary, Food and Consumer Protection Department,
Government of Bihar, Old Secretariat, Patna-800015.
3. Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited, Kadhya Bhawan,
Daroga Rai Path, R-Block, Road No. 2, Patna-800001, through its Managing
Director.
4. The Managing Director, Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation
Limited, Kadhya Bhawan, Daroga Rai Path, R-Block, Road No. 2, Patna-
800001.
5. The District Manager, Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation
Limited, Kaimur, District-Kaimur.
6. The District Magistrate, Kaimur.
7. Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation through its Managing
Director, Beltron Bhawan Baldev Bhawan Road, Shastri Nagar, Patna, Bihar
800023, Bihar.
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. P. K. Shahi, Sr. Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Anisul Haque, AC to AAG 5
For Resp. Belt : Mr. Girijesh Kumar, Advocate
For BSFC : Mr. Anant Kumar Jha, Advocate
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJEEV RANJAN PRASAD
ORAL ORDER
2 19-11-2019Heard learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the State, Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited as also learned counsel for the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation.
The only issue raised by the petitioner in the present Patna High Court CWJC No.20381 of 2019(2) dt.19-11-2019 2/4 case is that while he was uploading his tender documents on 20.09.2019 and was looking to participate in the tender bearing NIT No. 01 of 2019-20, due to some technical glitch on the portal of www.eproc.bihar.gov.in, the petitioner was deprived of successfully loading the documents. In paragraph 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the writ application following statements have been made:
"11. That on 20.09.2019 at around 1 p.m., the petitioner started uploading its technical bid and other document on www.eproc.bihar.gov.in but the petitioner started experiencing some technical glitch on the portal and the petitioner could not upload its documents.
12. That the petitioner tried repeatedly to access the portal and upload his document however the technical glitch persisted and till 3:00 pm the entire portal was rendered completely non-functional. This fact would be manifest from the several screenshots of the portal taken at the relevant time.
13. That a bare perusal of the screenshots shall reveal that the online portal www.eproc.bihar.gov.in was experiencing some technical glitch on account of which the entire interface was not working properly and the petitioner could not upload its document.
14. That it is stated that on 20.09.2019 itself the petitioner submitted a representation before the Respondent District Magistrate and the Respondent District Manager requesting that the petitioner be allowed to participate in the tender or to cancel the entire tender process."
Patna High Court CWJC No.20381 of 2019(2) dt.19-11-2019 3/4 Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submits that if the technical glitch occurred on the portal which deprived the petitioner from participating in the tender and the same was brought to the notice of the District Magistrate immediately on the same day, he should have extended the date and time for submission of tender so that the petitioner could have participated. If that has not been done, it has taken away the level playing field from the petitioner and has resulted in curtailing the competition at the threshold which is not in public interest.
Learned counsel for the State submits that whether the technical glitch existed on the portal of the Government or it was a technical glitch on the system of the petitioner would be a matter of fact which may be ascertained only after obtaining the reports from the respondent no. '7' who is managing the system.
Learned counsel for respondent no. '7' submits that if required necessary report may be submitted to the District Magistrate, Kaimur (Bhabhua).
In the given facts and circumstances of the case, this writ application is being disposed of with a direction to the District Magistrate, Kaimur (Bhabhua) (respondent no. 6) to Patna High Court CWJC No.20381 of 2019(2) dt.19-11-2019 4/4 look into the grievance of the petitioner as contained in Annexure '3' series to the writ application, verify the same with the assistance of respondent no. '7' and in case the grievance of the petitioner is found to be genuine, an appropriate decision be taken to extend the date and time of tender so that the petitioner and all other who could not have participated because of the technical glitch on the portal may get equal opportunity to participate.
This Court has been informed that till date no third party right has been created.
Let the whole exercise be completed within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order.
This writ application stands disposed of accordingly.
(Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, J) avin/-
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