ASHOK GARG Vs. VIKRANT OIL CARRIER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner and private respondents No.2 to 5 are in the business of ferrying fuel from the depot of respondent No. 1, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as "HPCL") to its retail outlets. HPCL invited digital e-tenders to transport bulk white petroleum products through road, with effect from 01.10.2018 till 30.09.2023 vide DNIT, Annexure P-1. As per the bid inviting tenders, the successful tenderer, within fifteen days of the issuance of the LOA/work order, had to produce the tank trucks for physical inspection of HPCL. The petitioner as well as the private respondents participated in the said bid. HPCL awarded the tender and issued LOA to the private respondents. Challenging the award of the tender, the petitioner came up before this Court seeking to set aside the LOA and subsequent actions, on the grounds that the calibration certificates of tank trucks were procured in connivance of the sixth respondent, the Inspector, Legal Metrology Department, without any physical calibration actually taking place.

(2.) The petitioner's grievance was that HPCL did not stick to the eligibility criteria prescribed in the tender notice, Annexure P-1. The petitioner sought strict enforcement of the requirements of calibration certificate on the ground that calibration certificates issued to private respondents were procured without following procedural requirements and, in fact, were managed. The essential condition of the tender was the submission of attested copies of valid calibration certificates apart from other documents. In brief, the material allegation was that the tank trucks of private respondents were never physically examined. In contrast, the calibration certificates had been generated in connivance with the sixth respondent, without any physical verification. Consequently, the petitioner sought cancellation of the bid documents submitted by private respondents. The petitioner also insisted upon an inquiry to ascertain truthfulness of the calibration certificate as mentioned in Annexure P-9.

(3.) The petitioner's additional prayer was that after prohibiting the private respondents' tank trucks, HPCL was under a contractual obligation to replace the similar trucks available with the petitioner.