PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Monday quashed a decision of the Directorate of Health Services to reject the technical bid of Mahalsa Services, a cleaning contractor whose bid was rejected by the department on grounds that the contractor had failed to qualify for the bidding process.
The High Court, remanded the matter back to the DHS so that the technical evaluation committee can examine whether the petitioner fulfills the qualifying criteria by considering all the relevant material on record and the legal position.
“If the petitioner is ultimately adjudged as fulfilling qualifying criteria, then his financial bid must be considered along with the financial bids submitted by the third and fourth respondents,” the High Court bench ruled.
The DHS had issued a Notice Inviting Tender for environmental support services, operations and maintenance at various hospitals, health centres and offices of health institutions, etc.
Among the qualifying criteria, the tender mandated that bidders should have had a minimum of 10-crore of a single work order of similar work within the state of Goa during the last seven years.
Mahalsa Services contended that they fulfilled the criteria and that the rejection of their technical bid based on the qualifying criteria was arbitrary and perverse.
The company submitted that they were awarded a tender of nearly identical work by the government of Goa for an amount of Rs 7.59 crore in 2017 and that this work order was extended for a period of three years with an increase of 5 percent for an amount of Rs 7.97 crore.
“This is a case of mere extension of the work order and, therefore, was not some fresh contract that was awarded...The work order together with its extension constituted a single work order of the value of greater than 10-crore...,” the company argued before the High Court.
The High Court agreed that the “extension” was not a separate contract or a renewal but part of the same work order and hence meant they were prima facie eligible to have their bid considered.
“The petitioner has offered a bid of Rs 47.03 crore as against the bids of Rs 93.7 crore and Rs 104.81 crores offered by the third and fourth respondents. If ultimately, upon consideration of all the relevant material, the tender evaluation committee concludes that the petitioner has fulfilled the qualifying criteria, it is possible that the state exchequer will save over Rs 40 to Rs 50 crores of taxpayers’ money,” the High Court also said.
