A. K. Patel And Co & 17 vs Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited & 3 on 25 January, 2017
As regards the decision of the Chhattisgarh
High Court in Virgo Softech Limited v. State of
Chhattisgarh (supra) on which reliance has been placed for
the proposition that "the award of contract, whether it is by a
private party or by a public body or the State, is essentially a
commercial transaction; in arriving at a commercial decision,
considerations which are of paramount are commercial
considerations; the State can choose its own method to arrive
at a decision; it can fix its own terms of invitation to tender and
that it is not open to judicial scrutiny; it can enter into
negotiations before finally deciding to accept one of the offers
made to it; price need not always be the sole criterion for
awarding a contract; it is free to grant any relaxation, for bona
fide reasons if the tender conditions permit such a relaxation",
the same would have no applicability to the facts of the
present case, inasmuch as the tender conditions do not permit
any relaxation in the conditions stipulated under Clause 8
thereof. In fact, even according to the second respondent,
provisional vendor registration came to be granted to the third
respondent on a misconception of fact, namely that the
application for removal of restrictions of tenure under the
Tenancy Act was an application for N.A. permission under
section 65 of the Gujarat Land Revenue Code and not on
account of any relaxation of the tender conditions.