Unsuccessful bidders cannot stall public projects

Justice S M Subramaniam, while dismissing the petition, said “This court is of an opinion that the writ petitioner has not established any genuineness in filing the present writ petition. Replacement of Spillway Shutter No.1 of Krishnagiri Dam in Krishnagiri District can never be delayed and the execution of the work is to be done at the earliest possible.”

“Therefore, the actions of the authorities in this regard in granting relaxation of the minimum time limit prescribed under Rule 20 of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Rules, 2000 are perfectly justified and there is no reason to interfere with the decision taken by the competent authorities in this regard,” the judge added.

The petitioner had contended that the delay in not uploading the tender as on the date of publication of the tender on 10.5.2018 is evident from the records that the authorities have designed, developed and housed the portal for the submission of the tender documents. Further, the time limit prescribed has not been followed. Thus, the action of the respondents is in violation of the Rule 20 (a) of the Tamil Nadu Tender Transparency Rules, 2000. As per the said Rule, the updation on the website should be at least 30 days before the last date of submission.

However, the judge on holding that in the present case on hand, the Chief Engineer has granted permission to reduce the minimum time limit of 30 days, said, “If there is any damage in the Spillway Shutter, certainly the same may cause lot of damage and wastage of water. Under these circumstances, the relaxation of minimum required time for issuance of tender and execution of the work is perfectly justified and there is no reason to disbelieve the decisions.” “This apart, the writ petitioner was aware of the relaxation granted because the Tender Notification was issued on May 10, 2018 and the last date was fixed on May 18, 2018. Thus, the writ petitioner is estopped from raising the ground that the time limit granted is in violation of Rule 20 of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Rules, 2000, as per the legal principles enumerated by the Apex Court of India,” the judge added.