EMS INFRACON PVT LTD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. S.D. Sanjay, learned senior counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Lalit Kishore, learned senior counsel/Additional Advocate General for the respondents. Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh, learned counsel for Union of India has also rendered his assistance.

(2.) The petitioner has challenged the order of blacklisting dated 04.11.2020 passed by the respondent/ BUIDCO on the ground of the same being arbitrary, malafide and only for the purpose of deliberately disqualifying the petitioner from participating in any future bid, particularly the present bid, so as to provide advantage to a private respondent/ M.S. Toshiba Water Solutions Private Limited.

(3.) The sum and substance of the argument of the petitioner is that the rejection of the technical bid of the petitioner on the sole ground of his having furnished misleading information with respect to the experience in setting up of sewage treatment plant, is absolutely unwarranted, unjustified and is not borne out by the facts of the case. In the Standard Bidding Document (S.B.D.), qualification criteria has been set forth in Annexure -A of part-H thereof. It specifically delineates that a bidder's qualification would be evaluated on compliance with all the minimum pass / fail criteria fixed by the authorities regarding their general design, build, construct, operation and maintenance experience of sewerage network, financial strength, personnel and management capabilities etc. The bidders are required to submit their bid either as a stand-alone firm / legal entity or a joint venture upto a maximum of three partners. With respect to experience in construction and operation and maintenance of sewage treatment and sewerage network, a successful bidder is required to provide evidence of its designing, developing, building, testing and commissioning of at least one sewage treatment plant of 22 M.L.D. capacity of secondary treatment of sewage during the last seven years preceding the bid submission date. It further specifies that such experience should have been of the bidder or of his nominated sub - contractor.