HARGOVIND PURVAIYA Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenge in this Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution is to an award of contract of sand mining in District Raisen in favour of the respondent No.4 on the allegation of his not fulfilling the essential condition stipulated in Clause 5([1]) and Clause 6(v)([2])(ii) of the Notice Inviting Tender (referred as 'NIT').

(2.) That, Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation Limited, an enterprise under the Department of Mineral Resources, State of Madhya Pradesh issued NIT on 07.10.2019 inviting E-tender for sand mining in District Raisen on or before 26.11.2019. The NIT stipulated certain essential conditions to be adhered to by prospective bidder for successful participation. One such essential conditions, around which centers the controversy, are contained in Clause 5([1]) and Clause 6(v)([2])(ii), stipulating therein that if the initial base price (upset price) of the group is more than Rs.10 crores, then as on 31.03.2019, the tenderer's net worth is required to be not less than 50% of the group's initial price. And that, it will be mandatory for the tenderer to provide the Net Worth Certificate issued by the Chartered Accountant on the basis of audited accounts (stand-alone basis) for the year 2018-19 as on 31.03.2019. It further stipulates that in case the accounts of 2018-19 is not finalized, then in such a situation, the certificate of net worth as on 31.03.2018 on the basis of audited account for the year 2017-18 will be valid. For ready reference, these clauses are reproduced below :

(3.) In response to the NIT, 5 bids were received, viz, from (i) Ambey Suppliers Pvt. Ltd. (ii) Shri Hargovind Purvaiya (iii) Shri Rajendra Raghuvanshi (iv) Shri Roopendra Mishra and (v) M/s S.A. Infra Developers Pvt. Ltd. That, Technical bids of these five bidders was accepted and were held qualified for financial opening.