BENGAL TRANSPORT CO Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since a short point is involved, this writ petition is taken up for final disposal.

(2.) Respondent No.2, the Container Corporation of India (for short CCI) issued an advertisement inviting tenders from experienced handling contractors for cargo handling operations at its Inland Container Depot (for short ICD), Tughlakabad, New Delhi. Tender papers were issued to various parties on 29th November, 1996. The tenders were opened on 10th December, 1996 and the rates quoted by the various tenderers became known on that date itself. According to the petitioner its tender was the lowest. The period for which the work was to be awarded under the tender is four years, i.e., from 1st February, 1997 to 31st January 2001. The grievance of the petitioner is that inspite of being the lowest tenderer, the work was not awarded to the petitioner. On the contrary the work has been awarded to respondent No.4 who, according to the petitioner, was not even the second lowest tenderer but was the third lowest tenderer. However, during the course of hearing, this was not disputed that the second lowest tenderer had withdrawn its tender and therefore, respondent No. 4 became the second lowest tenderer to whom the work was ultimately awarded. It is also not disputed that respondent No. 4 had already been doing the same work prior to the present tender being floated and in view of the fact that now the work under the present tender has been awarded to respondent No. 4, it is continuing to execute the contract.

(3.) The petitioner's tender was the lowest. However, the stand of the respondents is that the petitioner failed to meet certain requirements of the tender and therefore, the work was not awarded to it. In the counter affidavits filed on behalf of respondents 2 and 3 and respondent No. 4, it has been pointed out that the cargo handling operations at ICD, Tughlakabad are of great magnitude, it being the biggest in the country. Around ninety export and ninety import trains are handled per month at that site which accounts for over forty percent of total traffic and revenue of respondent No. 2. Apart from highlighting the magnitude of the work involved at ICD, Tughlakabad, the respondents have detailed the nature of work expected from the contractors in order to show that the work is of a highly specialised and technical nature and cannot be handled by everyone/anyone. The main work would be to stuff/destuff the export/import cargo arriving at the ICD by road on vehicles in large containers, store the same in nominated areas including covered warehouses, open packages for customs examination as per orders of the Customs Authorities, weigh the packages nominated, repack the opened packages and stuff/load export cargo/import cargo in empty containers. Keeping all these activities in view respondent No. 2 mentioned in the invitation to tender itself that ICD, Tughlakabad is the biggest ICD in the country and expects to handle 1,40,000 TEUs during 1996-97 involving stuffing/destuffing around 1,00,000 TEUs.