Bilaspur : The Chhattisgarh High Court, in M/s Ramsaran Singh Projects LLP & Anr. v. Wapcos Limited & Ors. (WPC No. 5479 of 2025), upheld the technical disqualification of a contractor for failing to meet the mandatory bid security validity requirement under a government tender.
A Division Bench comprising Ramesh Sinha and Ravindra Kumar Agrawal dismissed the writ petition challenging the disqualification from a tender for construction of an Eklavya Model Residential School in Kanker.
The petitioner argued discriminatory treatment, claiming that another bidder with an allegedly insufficient bank guarantee validity was allowed to proceed. The Court rejected this contention, noting that even under the petitioner’s own interpretation, their bank guarantee did not satisfy the prescribed validity period.
Reaffirming limits of judicial review in tender matters, the Court relied on Tata Cellular v. Union of India, Jagdish Mandal v. State of Orissa, and Afcons Infrastructure Ltd. v. Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. to emphasise that courts do not act as appellate authorities over administrative decisions. Interference is warranted only in cases of arbitrariness, mala fides, or irrationality.
The Bench held that compliance with bid security validity is an essential tender condition. Since the petitioner failed to meet this mandatory requirement, the disqualification was justified. No arbitrariness or illegality in the decision-making process was established.
Accordingly, the Court declined to exercise jurisdiction under Article 226 and dismissed the writ petition.