KANCHAN INDIA LIMITED Vs. GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule.

(2.) These petitions take exception to the impugned action on the part of Respondent Nos.1 and 2 which according to the Petitioners has resulted in their illegal exclusion from participation in the tender process pursuant to the tender notice dtd. 25/1/2024 which was issued for procurement of school uniform cloth material to be distributed amongst the students studying in the Government schools in the State of Maharashtra for the year 2024-2025. The primary submission made on behalf of the Petitioners is that as per the bid document, the time available for submission of bid was upto 4.00 pm. on 15/2/2024, however, the portal, where the participating bidders were supposed to submit their bids was closed at 3.00 pm. itself on the said date which resulted in exclusion of the Petitioners from participation in the bid thereby infringing their fundamental right enshrined under Article 19(1) (g) of the Constitution of India. Petitioners have also pleaded violation of the provisions contained in paragraph 4.4.3.1 of the Procurement Manual as embodied in the Government Resolution dtd. 1/12/2016.

(3.) The State of Maharashtra is implementing Free School Uniform Distribution Scheme and in that endeavor it is providing uniform to all students studying in class 1 to 8 in Government schools. For procuring the said uniform cloth, a tender notice dtd. 25/1/2024 (hereinafter referred to as the tender notice) was published on the Government e-markets (Gem) portal according to which the estimated bid value of the tender was Rs. 138.11 crores. The tender notice stipulated the "bid end date/time" as 15/2/2024 at 15/0/0. The said notice also stipulated the bid opening date/time as 15 th February 2024 at 15/30/0 hrs.