ATTOTEK CO. LTD. Vs. ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present three writ petitions raise almost identical issues. The facts are also somewhat common. Accordingly, with the consent of the parties, these petitions are being heard together and disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) Respondent No.1 is a joint venture of four National Public Sector Undertakings viz. NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation Limited, Rural Electrification Corporation Limited and POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited. On 15th February, 2019, the respondent No.1 vide Bid Invitation bearing EESL/2018-19/ICB/Phase-II/SLNP-181902039 invited bids for design, manufacturing, testing, supply and seven year warranty of 10 lac LED streetlights and other related works under PAN India-Street Light National Program (SLNP). In terms of the Bidding Document, the bid was an international competitive bidding, which was to be conducted in accordance with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Single Stage: Two Envelop Bidding Procedure and was open to all the bidders with no country restriction. As per the initial Bid Document, the soft copy of the bid was required to be uploaded by 1400 hours (IST) on 6th April, 2019. This was eventually extended upto 1400 hours (IST) on 24th May, 2019. As per Clause 11 of the Bid Data Sheet, the original documents were to be received upto 1100 hours (IST) on 6th April, 2019 and the Technical Bid was to be opened online on 6th April, 2019 by 1430 hours (IST). This Schedule was subsequently changed and eventually, Technical Bid was to be opened on 24th May, 2019 by 1430 hours (IST).

(3.) The petitioners are Korean Companies and according to the petitioners, as they fulfilled all the necessary eligibility conditions, as mentioned in their Bid Document, they received their Digital Signature Certificate on 26th April, 2019 in W.P.(C) No.6123/2019; on 1 st May, 2019 in W.P.(C) No.6157/2019 and on 15th May, 2019 in W.P.(C) No.6162/2019. They had also deposited the fee of Rs.5,000/- for portal registration on separate dates and got themselves registered with the E-procurement Portal on 1st May, 2019.