ADANI EXPORTS LTD Vs. MAHARASHTRA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RULE. Respondents waive service. By consent. Rule is made returnable forthwith.

(2.) ON 12th November 2002 the 1st respondent MSEB issued Tender Notice bearing No. SP/t-301/11-02 inviting bids for supply of 0. 375 MT of high grade imported coal for Nashik and Koradi Thermal Power Stations. The tender document is divided into three sections. Section 1 contains instruction to bidders, section II contains the general terms and conditions of the contract while section III contains technical specifications. Clause 6. 6 of Section 1 reads thus :

(3.) BY a fax letter dated 23rd December 2002 the Executive Engineer of the MSEB pointed out the defects in the affidavit submitted by the 1st petitioner and insisted for full and complete disclosure to confirm that there are no proceedings of any kind whatsoever including at the stage of investigation or arrest or application for remand in relation to violation of any law including the Customs Act or Import Trade Control laws or otherwise in relation to the supply of coal to any of the organization within the country. The 1st petitioner replied to the above letter by its letter dated 26th December 2002 stating that the contents of the letter under reply were mala fide and mischievous and go beyond Clause 6. 6 of the tender document and the letter appears to have been issued only with a view to unfairly exclude the 1st petitioner and favour some other bidders. The 1st petitioner submitted the affidavit in the format prescribed and also furnished a complete set of documents and details and clarifications pertaining to the case. However, in the meeting held on 9th January 2003 the 1st petitioner was declared disqualified under Clause 6. 6 and therefore a decision was taken to open price bid of other bidders to the exclusion of the 1st petitioner. The decision to disqualify the 1st petitioner under Clause 6. 6 is under challenge in this petition under Article 226.