Banshidhar Construction Pvt. Ltd. Vs Bharat Coking Coal Limited & Others (Supreme Court)
Summary: The Supreme Court considered whether Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) was justified in rejecting the technical bid of Banshidhar Construction Pvt. Ltd. while accepting the technical bid of Respondent No. 8, despite the latter having failed to submit mandatory documents relating to the qualification criteria prescribed under Clause 10 of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) dated 16.08.2023.
BCCL had invited a tender for the project to “Re-open, salvage, rehabilitate, develop, construct and operate for excavation I extraction of coal from Amalgamated East Bhuggatdih Simlabahal Coal Mine and delivery thereof to the Authority at Bastacolla Area of BCCL” on revenue-sharing basis for twenty-five years. The Appellant submitted its bid on 29.11.2023. Its technical bid was rejected on 06.05.2024 on the stated ground that it did not comply with Clause 10 of the NIT concerning the Power of Attorney for signing the bid. The technical bids had been opened on 04.12.2023, while the last date for submission was 01.12.2023.
The Appellant contended that its Director, Lalti Devi, had been authorised by Board Resolution dated 07.11.2023 and a Power of Attorney was executed in her favour on the same date. Although the Power of Attorney was notarised on 14.11.2023, it and the other requisite documents were uploaded before the last date of submission. It was argued that rejection of the Appellant’s bid was arbitrary, particularly because Respondent No. 8 had itself failed to submit scanned copies of the audited balance sheets required under Clause 10 in relation to financial capacity. Those documents were subsequently submitted on 17.04.2024 after the technical bids had already been opened.
