Sunshine Caterers Private Limited Vs Union of India Through Ministry of Railways & Anr. (Delhi High Court)
The case of Sunshine Caterers Private Limited vs. Union of India, through the Ministry of Railways & Anr., brought before the Delhi High Court, revolves around the disqualification of Sunshine Caterers’ bid in a tender issued by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC). The contention arises from the non-inclusion of certified information by the Chartered Accountant (CA) in the Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) certificate, as required by the tender’s terms.
The petitioner, Sunshine Caterers, participated in a tender issued by IRCTC for onboard catering services in trains. They submitted their bid along with necessary documents, including Annexure(s) B, D, and E, certified by a CA with respective UDIN. However, IRCTC disqualified Sunshine Caterers’ bid, citing that the information certified in the annexures was not reflected in the UDIN certificates obtained from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) website.
The petitioner argued that there was no stipulation in the tender requiring the information in annexures to be mirrored in UDIN certificates. However, the respondent contended that UDIN was mandated to verify the authenticity of CA certificates and that the certified information should correspondingly mirror in UDIN certificates.
The court noted the purpose of UDIN to facilitate online verification of CA certificates and observed the discrepancy in the petitioner’s UDIN certificates, where certified information was absent. The court also highlighted that other technically qualified bidders had their certified information duly reflected in UDIN certificates.
The petitioner’s inability to explain the discrepancies further weakened their case. Consequently, the court found no merit in the petition and dismissed it along with pending applications.
The Delhi High Court’s decision in the Sunshine Caterers case underscores the importance of compliance with tender requirements, including the accurate representation of certified information in UDIN certificates. The ruling reaffirms the significance of transparency and accountability in procurement processes, ensuring fair competition and integrity in tender evaluations.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
Present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking directions to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (‘IRCTC’) i.e., Respondent No. 2 to withdraw the Disqualification E-mail dated 27th March, 2024, whereby the Petitioner’s bid has been rejected and subsequently, to declare the Petitioner herein, as technically qualified so as to allow the Petitioner to participate in the tender issued by Respondent No. 2.
2. It is stated that on 8th February, 2024, Respondent No. 2 had issued a notice inviting tender (‘NIT’) bearing E-Open Tender No. 2024/IRCTC/P&T/CLUSTER/FEB/WCR/CLT/B-6 for provision of onboard catering services in trains, for a period of five (05) years further extendable upto two (02) years. As per the NIT, the last date for submission of technical bids was 1st March, 2024 upto 12:00 hours and date of opening of technical bids was 1st March, 2024 at 12:15 hours.
2.1. It is stated that as per the Techno-Commercial Eligibility Criteria prescribed in the said NIT, the bidders were mandated to submit certain annexures/documents along with their respective technical bids. The details of the relevant annexures which are the subject matter of the present writ petition are as follows: –
