Bombay High Court
Prudent Epc Private Ltd. vs Maharashtra Industrial Township Ltd. on 5 February, 2026
2026:BHC-OS:3708-DB
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (L) NO.2616 OF 2026
Prudent EPC Private Ltd. ]
A Private Limited Company ]
registered under the Indian ]
Companies Act 2013 and having ]
address at 305, Eastern Court, ]
V N Purav Marg, Chembur, ]
Mumbai - 400071 through its ]
Director Avinash Arun Patil. ] .... Petitioner.
V/s
1. Maharashtra Industrial Township Ltd., ]
having address at Udyog Sarathi, ]
MIDC Office, Marol Industrial Area, ]
Andheri [E] Mumbai - 400093. ]
]
2. The Managing Director, ]
Maharashtra Industrial Township Ltd., ]
having address at Udyog Sarathi, ]
MIDC Office, Marol Industrial Area, ]
Andheri [E] Mumbai - 400 093. ]
]
3. Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. ]
A Govt of India Enterprises, having ]
address at B-9, Qutab Industrial ]
Area, Kalwaria Sarai, New Delhi -100016. ]
]
4. The State of Maharashtra. ] ...Respondents.
Mr. Suresh Dubey, advocate for Petitioner.
Ms. Shyamali Gadre a/w Ashwin Kulkarni i/by Little & Co.,
advocates for Respondent Nos. 1 and 2- MITL.
Mr. Vikrant Parshurami, AGP for State of Maharashtra, Respondent
No.4.
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CORAM : SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR, CJ. &
GAUTAM A. ANKHAD, J.
DATE : 5TH FEBRUARY 2026. PER GAUTAM A. ANKHAD, J. . The challenge in this Petition is to the cancellation of tender
issued by the respondent no.1 for the work of Modification/Shifting of existing 400 KV M/C, Aurangabad (PG)-Aurangabad (MSETCL) and Akola (MSETCL) Transmission Line, passing through Bidkin Industrial Area. The petitioner seeks a further direction that the respondents ought not to compromise on the technical qualification requirements which are diluted by the respondent no.1 in a fresh tender issued by the respondent no.1.
2. The petitioner participated in the earlier round of tender and paid a fee of Rs.59,000/- and furnished the earnest money deposit (in short, "EMD") of Rs.15,06,215/- in the form of Bank Guarantee. The time for participation was extended on two occasions from 26 th November 2025 until 19th December 2025. Despite the extensions, there was limited participation and the respondent no.1 received only two bids, namely the petitioner and M/s Sharvari Electricals (JV) with M/s BNC Power Projects. Thus, the respondent no.1 cancelled the tender and issued a fresh tender with revised eligibility conditions.
3. Mr. Suresh Dubey, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the cancellation of the tender is illegal as two bids were received by the respondent no.1. There is no valid reason furnished by the authority to dilute the eligibility criteria in the new tender. He further submits that in the event, this Court is not inclined to entertain this Petition, the respondent no.1 ought to refund the EMD 2/4 Dusane ::: Uploaded on - 09/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 13/02/2026 21:50:20 ::: to the Petitioner, which has not been done so far.
4. Ms. Shyamali Gadre, learned counsel appearing for respondent nos.1 and 2 tenders an affidavit in reply dated 4 th February 2026 and submits that the cancellation of the tender was necessary in view of procedure prescribed under the 'Revised Manual of Office Procedure for Procurement by the Government Departments' issued under Government Resolution dated 1 st December 2016 by the Department of Industry, Energy and Labour which requires a re-tender if less than three bids are received. The learned counsel submits that despite extensions only two bids were received, hence, the tender was cancelled and a fresh tender dated 13 th January 2026 bearing No. MITL/SBIA/2025-26/T-13 has been floated. The petitioner has already participated in its pre-bid meeting dated 19 th January 2026. The last date for submission of bids in the new tender is 6 th February 2026 and the petitioner is free to participate in the said subject to fulfilment of the prescribed tender conditions.
5. We have heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and find no merit in this Petition. Clause 71 of the earlier NIT provides that the respondent no.1 is at liberty to withdraw the invitation to bid at any time before its acceptance. The authority has the right not to accept the highest bid, depending upon the circumstances of the case. This court cannot sit in appeal over respondent's decision to cancel the tender and issue a fresh one. After cancellation, a fresh tender has been floated to ensure widest participation. In "Diti Developers Vs. CIDCO"1 and "Bhagwati Akshar Empire LLP Vs. CIDCO2" this Court has held that the cancellation of a tender by the tendering Authority cannot be challenged as the mere 1 (WP No.14294 of 2025) 2 (WP No. 7883 of 2024) 3/4 Dusane ::: Uploaded on - 09/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 13/02/2026 21:50:20 ::: submission of bid does not create any right in favour of a bidder. In "Indore Vikas Pradhikaran Vs. Shree Humud Jain Samaj Trust"3, and "State of Jharkhand Vs. C.W.E.- SOMA Consortium"4, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that a public authority is duty bound to secure the best possible price and ensure efficient utilisation of public resources. The decision to cancel a tender to secure widest participation and the best price is a matter that falls within the realm of commercial policy and does not warrant judicial interference.
6. Secondly, the petitioner's bid is not even accepted. It cannot claim any vested rights as there is no contract in its favour. The only surviving right which the petitioner can claim is the refund of its EMD. The petitioner cannot dictate how a tendering authority ought to frame the tender conditions and the eligibility criteria. The Government has the freedom to contract and frame conditions that suits its commercial requirement.
7. In view of above, there is no merit in this Writ Petition and the same is dismissed with a direction to the respondent nos. 1 and 2 to return the petitioner's EMD/ Bank Guarantee within a period of two weeks from today.
[ GAUTAM A. ANKHAD, J. ] [ CHIEF JUSTICE ] BHARAT DASHARATH PANDIT Digitally signed by BHARAT DASHARATH PANDIT Date: 2026.02.09 15:12:08 +0530 3 (2024) SCC OnLine SC 3511 4 (2015) SCC OnLine SC 1680 4/4 Dusane ::: Uploaded on - 09/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 13/02/2026 21:50:20 :::