DEORAJ SINGH TRANSPORT CONTRACTOR Vs. CENTRAL COALFIELDS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for a direction on the respondents to open the Financial Bid of the petitioner and consider the same along with other bidders and in case, the petitioner is found successful, to allot the work to the petitioner for which he has submitted his tender in response of NIT No. CCL/CGM(T}/Kuju/2003 -317 dated 12th December, 2006.

(2.) PETITIONER 's case, in short, is that a notice Inviting Tender (in short 'NIT') was published by the Central Coalfields Ltd. (in short 'CCL'), Ranchi, being NIT No. CCL/CGM(T)/Kuju/2003 -317 dated 12th December, 2006 (Annexure -1) for the work, transfer of coal by Contractor's Pay Loader into Contractor's Tipping Trucks at Topa Reorganisation, O.C. Project, Surface Stock and Transportation to NR Siding after weighment at Ara Road Weighbridge and Siding Weighbridge. According to the NIT the tenders were to be received in the office till 2nd January, 2007 and to be opened at 11 a.m. on 4th January, 2007, in the office of Chief General Manager (Transportation), CCL. The petitioner, who has experience of similar nature of work since 1984 and is eligible in all respect, submitted his tender on 2nd January, 2007 in the office of the respondent No. 1 along with the certificate issued by Allahabad Bank, SSIFB, Ramgarh to Hazaribagh show the adequate working capital, the list of equipments Le. 30 numbers of Tipping Trucks, 4 numbers of Pay Loaders and other equipments, which were required, as per Clause 3.3(c) of the NIT, certificate relating to Financial Turn Over of Rs. 7,52,98,467.03/ - for the Financial Year 2005 -06 as also the certificate of the work completed during the previous year.

(3.) MR . A.K. Sinha, learned senior counsel, appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been executing and doing the similar nature of work since 1984. He fulfilled all the terms and conditions laid down in the NIT (Annexure -1). The essential qualification for award of work is mentioned in Clause 3.3 of the NIT. The petitioner fulfilled all the essential conditions and is qualified for the bid. The certificate of registration with Provident Fund Authority was not required for awarding the contract, as per Clause 3.3. of the NIT. The award criteria has been specifically mentioned in Clause 27 of the NIT. According to Clause 27.1, the employer has to award the contract to the bidders, whose bid has been determined to be substantial responsive to the bidding document and who has offered the lowest evaluated bid price. Eligibility criteria for the bidder is provided in Clause 2, while qualification for awarding the contract is provided in Clause 3.