M/S. MATHEW KORAH Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Babu Joseph Kuruvathazha, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. V. Tekchand, learned Senior Government Pleader.

(2.) The bid submitted by the contractor pursuant to the tender floated in 2025 was not accepted in view of Clause 7.5 of the bid document dtd. 9/8/2017. The said clause stipulates that Additional Performance Guarantee will be required to be deposited either in the form of treasury fixed deposit in the name of the agreement authority for a period not less than 28 days after the completion of the works or in the form of unconditional Bank Guarantee from any Nationalised Bank/Scheduled Bank valid till 28 days after the completion of the work, in an approved format.

(3.) There is no dispute that the petitioner had furnished an unconditional Bank Guarantee in terms of Clause 7.5. However, the bid was rejected relying upon the Government Order dtd. 10/1/2019, which issued certain clarifications to Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings regarding Additional Performance Guarantee. One of the relevant clarifications reads as follows: