As per case facts, Rai Raj Construction Pvt. Ltd. filed a writ petition challenging the Technical Bid Evaluation Committee's decision to disqualify its bid for a road maintenance tender. The ...
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.13329 of 2026
CNR No. BRHC010888642026
======================================================
Rai Raj Construction Pvt. Ltd. having its Corporate Office at 601, 6th floor,
Lav Kush Tower, Exhibition Road, P.S. Gandhi Maidan, District Patna
through its Director Baidya Nath Rai, aged about 54-years, Male, Son of
Mahendra Rai, Resident of 410, Ashiyana Plaza, Budha Marg, P.S. Kotwali,
District Patna, Bihar.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1.The State of Bihar through the Additional Chief Secretary, Road
Construction Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
2.The Engineer In-Chief, Works Management, Road Construction Department,
Government of Bihar, Patna.
3.The Chief Engineer (South), Road Construction Department, Government of
Bihar, Patna Cum Chairman, Technical Bid Evaluation Committee, Road
Construction Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
4.The Executive Engineer, Road Division-Sonepur, District Saran, Bihar.
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s: Mr. Prabhat Ranjan, Advocate
Mr. Shubham Kumar, Advocate
Mr. Ansh Prasad, Advocate
For the Respondent/s: Mr. S.D. Sanjay, Advocate General
Mr. Vijay Chandra Maurya, AAG-2
Mr. Lokesh Kumar, AC to AG
Mr. Rahul Kumar, AC to AG
Mr. G.R. Shahi, AC to AG
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PARTHA SARTHY
CAV JUDGMENT
(Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)
Date : 15.10.2026
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner with
the following prayers:
“(i) Quashing of the decision of the
Technical Bid Evaluation Committee as
contained in Memo No. 2433 dated
13.08.2026 (Annexure P/2) to the
extent:-
a) Technical bid of the petitioner has
been held to be non-responsive and
thus, disqualified in terms of Clause
1.2.1 (b) of Section 3 of the Model
Bidding Document for the allegation
of failure to execute the Agreement in
connection with the 2-works awarded
to the petitioner under Road
Division, Bihar Sharif and the Bank
Guarantee furnished is not in
accordance with ITB Clause 17 and
Serial 18 of the NIT inasmuch as the
uploaded Bank Guarantee
incorporate guarantee will be a
Clause "this operative when
accompanied with advise (SFMS)
issued from the advising Bank" which
makes it conditional Bank
Guarantee;
b) It has been decided to open the
financial bid of the technically
responsive bidders in case no
objection is received against the
decision of the Technical Bid
Evaluation Committee in terms of
Departmental Order No. 141 read
with Memo No. 5355 dated
28.10.2021; and
c) It has been decided to proceed further
for re-tender only after disposal of
the objection from the competent
level in case any such objection is
received against the decision of the
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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Technical Bid Evaluation Committee.
(ii)
Direction upon the Respondents to open
the financial bid of the petitioner in
connection with NIT No. 02/2026-2027
RCD/Road Division Sonepur dated
11.05.2026 Package No. 26 B and
proceed further in accordance with the
tender conditions; and
(iii)
Restraining the Respondents from giving
effect to the decision of the Technical
Bid Evaluation Committee as contained
in Memo No. 2433 dated 13.08.2026
(Annexure P/2) during the pendency of
the present writ application and/or the
without the leave of this Hon'ble
Court.”
2. The facts as noted from the record and highlighted
by Mr. Prabhat Ranjan, learned counsel appearing for the
petitioner are that, the petitioner is a firm registered as Class-1
contractor under the Bihar Contractors Registration Rules, 2007
(‘Rules of 2007’ in short) and is engaged in construction work
on behalf of various Government Departments in the State of
Bihar. According to him, a Notice Inviting Tender (NIT)
No.02/2026-2027 RCD/Road Division, Sonepur dated
11.05.2026 was issued by the Respondent No. 4 i.e. the
Executive Engineer Road Division, Sonepur - District, Saran,
Bihar in connection with ordinary maintenance works, initial
rectification works, periodic maintenance work including re-
application of road markings etc. under the Rosera Division of
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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Road Construction Department, Bihar. He stated that the present
writ application relates to work advertised under Package No.
26B in the aforesaid NIT. It is his submission that as per the
knowledge of the petitioner, seven bidders participated in the
tender process by submitting their respective bids. For the
purpose of evaluation of the responsiveness of the technical bids
of the respective bidders, the three-member Technical Bid
Evaluation Committee (‘TBEC’ in short) under the
Chairmanship of Respondent No. 3 convened its meeting on 13-
08-2026. The TBEC vide Proceedings Memo No.2433 dated 13-
08-2026 evaluated the technical bids of the respective bidders
and decided to disqualify four bidders including the petitioner
herein and declared three bidders as qualified the technical bid
evaluation. He submitted that as per TBEC Proceedings dated
13-08-2026, the technical bid of the petitioner was found to be
non-responsive in terms of Clause 1.2.1 (b) of Section 3 of the
Model Bidding Document (MBD) for failure on the part the
petitioner to execute the agreement in connection with two
works earlier allotted to the firm under the Road Division, Bihar
Sharif and the Bank Guarantee furnishing was not in terms of
Clause 17 of the ITB read with Clause 18 of the NIT and also
that the petitioner has furnished a conditional Bank Guarantee.
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3. He submitted that a further decision was taken to
open the financial bids of the technically responsive bidders in
case no objection is received against the decision of TBEC and
in the eventuality any objection is received, further action shall
be taken only after the disposal of such objection by the
competent authority.
4. He stated that in so far as the first ground of
rejection is concerned, the same pertains to Letter of Acceptance
(LoA) bearing Nos.1425 and 1426 dated 03.07.2025 issued by
the Executive Engineer Road Division, Bihar Sharif, which
were challenged in this Court, vide CWJC No. 15252 of 2025
(LoA 1425), Rai-Raj Construction Pvt. Ltd. Vrs. State of Bihar
and Others on various grounds and the Coordinate Bench of this
Court vide order dated 09.10.2025 granted status quo in
connection with the said LoA. He submitted that aforesaid
CWJC No. 15252 of 2025 came to be disposed of by a Co-
ordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 27.07.2026 by
setting aside the LOA, as contained in letter No. 1425 dated
03.07.2025, with a further direction to the respondents to return
the Bank Guarantee which was furnished as Earnest Money
Deposit within two weeks.
5. Mr. Ranjan, further submitted that CWJC
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No.15269 of 2025 filed by the petitioner was in respect of LoA
No. 1426 of 2025 dated 03.07.2025, which also came to be
disposed of by the Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order
dated 27-07-2026 by setting aside the LOA dated 03-07-2025
with similar directions to the respondents to return the Bank
Guarantee which was furnished by the petitioner as EMD.
6. It was the submission of Mr. Ranjan that the
decision of the respondents to reject the technical bid of the
petitioner and consequential decision vide Memo dated
13.08.2026 is absolutely arbitrary and illegal, dehors the tender
conditions and in express violation of the judicial orders passed
by this Court.
7. It was his submission that Clause 1.2.1 (b) of
Section 3 of the MBD has no application as the respondents had
not brought on record even a single instance of record of poor
performance such as abandoning the work; improper completion
of the contract; inordinate delays in completion; litigation
history or financial failures etc. in connection with any work
contracted with the petitioner.
8. He stated that the disqualification under Clause
1.2.1 (b) of Section 3 of the MBD could be invoked only after
agreement has been executed and one or more of the several
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exigencies like abandonment of work, failure to complete the
work properly, inordinate delay, litigation history or financial
failure occurs. He also submitted that Clause 1.2.1 (b) of
Section 3 of the MBD could be invoked only when the
agreement has been executed earlier and there is failure on
behalf of the bidder and not at stage before the execution of the
agreement. He submitted that the reference to the failure of the
petitioner to execute the agreement in connection with the two
works awarded under Bihar Sharif Road Division is also
misconceived, in as much, as both the LOAs being 1425 and
1426 dated 03.07.2026 were initially stayed by the Co-ordinate
Bench of this court and finally both the LOAs were quashed by
this Court and as such, there was no occasion for the
respondents to disqualify the petitioner on the ground of failure
to execute the agreement pursuant to two LOAs as referred to
above.
9. In effect, it was his submission that the decision
dated 13.08.2026 is not only in violation of the above Clause
but is in express derogation and contempt of the judgment of
this Court. He stated, the grounds mentioned in the impugned
decision travers beyond the stipulation in the LoAs with regard
to consequence of failure to execute the agreement in
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connection with any work awarded to the bidder. It was also his
submission that the impugned decision has overlooked the
consequences of the failure of any bidder to execute the
agreement after the issuance of the agreement, in as much as
according to the bidding document failure can lead only to
cancellation of LoA and forfeiture of the EMD and cannot result
in disqualification of the bidder in subsequent tender process.
10. One of the plea of Mr. Ranjan was that TBEC
cannot take a final decision but can only recommend to the
Departmental Tender Committee (DTC) the technical
responsiveness of the prospective bidders. He also stated that
the ground that the Bank Guarantee furnished by the petitioner
as EMD is conditional is concerned, the stipulation is that the
Bank Guarantee will be operative when accompanied with the
advice (SFMS) issued from the advising Bank, will not make
the Bank Guarantee conditional. He submitted that nowhere in
the tender document, it has been mentioned that the Bank
Guarantee to be furnished by the bidder as EMD should be
conditional or unconditional nor any format has been
prescribed. That apart, it was also his submission that the
stipulation in the Bank Guarantee, does not in any way violate
the requirements under Clause 17 of the ITB or Serial No.18 of
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the NIT.
11. In any case, it was his submission that the
stipulation that the guarantee will be operative when
accompanied with advice (SFMS) issued from the advising
Bank will not make the Bank Guarantee conditional and the
same has no bearing or connection with the revocation,
forfeiture or any other action relating to the Bank Guarantee by
the department. He also laid stress on the fact that the issuing
Bank vide communication dated 14.08.2026 has also clarified to
Respondent No. 4 that the aforesaid is a standard clause
prescribed as per the banking procedure under the RBI
guidelines and not as a condition for revocation of the Bank
Guarantee.
12. One of the submission of Mr. Ranjan is that the
TBEC headed by the Chief Engineer cannot take any final
decision with regard to the opening of the financial bids or
financial bids evaluation and the decision on all such matters is
to be taken by DTC.
13. He relied upon the decision of the respondents
contained in Memo No. 4676 (E) dated 17.07.2025 to contend
that the decision with regard to the cancellation of the tender or
re-tender of the work is to be taken by the four-DTC headed by
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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the Departmental Secretary.
14. He also submitted that in terms of the Memo No.
874 (E) dated 05.02.2026 and Memo No. 1547 dated 26.02.2026
it is actually the DTC headed by the Departmental Secretary
which has to take a final decision on the technical
responsiveness of the bidders.
15. Similar are his submissions with regard to the
decision of the respondents in terms of Memo No. 1535 dated
25.02.2026. He submitted that the decision taken by the TBEC
in the proceedings dated 13.08.2026 is in entirety beyond
jurisdiction and as per Departmental Letter No.3870 as
contained in Annexure P/7 and the prevalent procedure, the
TBEC has got no jurisdiction to take such decision, rather it is
the DTC headed by the Secretary of Department who has to take
the decision.
16. That apart, his submission was also by drawing
our attention to I.A. No. 01 of 2026 to contend that the decision
of the Complaint/Grievance Committee rejecting objections
dated 14.08.2026 of the petitioner vide Memo No.5858(E) dated
24.08.2026 is absolutely arbitrary, non-speaking and beyond
jurisdiction. This according to him is because the said
committee is required to consider the objections and complaint
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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filed by the bidders against the decision of the TBEC only and
make recommendations to DTC. Even otherwise, the
Complaint/Grievance Committee consisting of four officers
whereas the impugned decision by the Engineer-in-Chief-cum-
Additional Commissioner-cum-Special Secretary Headquarter/
Engineer-in-Chief (Headquarter) being Special Invited Officer is
absent and instead a Joint Secretary, Road Construction
Department had participated as member in the proceedings of
the Complaint Committee.
17. The Complaint Committee after considering the
complaint/objection should have referred the matter to the DTC
headed by the Departmental Secretary and it is this DTC which
is the final authority to take a decision with regard to
responsiveness of the technical bid of the respective bidders and
opening of financial bids. In other words, it is his submission
that the Complaint/Grievance Committee in the present case has
itself erroneously assumed the jurisdiction to take a final
decision with regard to the responsiveness of the technical bid
of the respective bidders and to issue directions to open the
financial bids.
18. He submitted that even the TBEC decision dated
13.08.2026 rejecting the technical bid of the petitioner on the
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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ground that the Bank Guarantee submitted/uploaded by the
petitioner as a Bid Security/EMD is a conditional Bank
Guarantee as against the requirement of the same being
unconditional, whereas the ground on which the
Complaint/Grievance Committee has taken the impugned
decision is a fresh ground, that the petitioner has not submitted
along with the Bank Guarantee the relevant advise (SFMS), is at
variance with the decision of the TBEC.
19. Further, according to him, a decision has been
taken by the Complaint/Grievance Committee oblivious of the
Letter dated 14.08.2026 issued by the Bank clarifying that the
bid security is not a conditional guarantee but an unconditional
one. He seeks the reliefs as prayed for in the petition. He relied
on the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Maha
Mineral Mining and Benefication Pvt. Ltd. vs. Madhya
Pradesh Power Generating Co. Ltd. & Anr. CA arising out of
SLP(C) 1940/2025 and Shanti Construction Pvt. Ltd. vs. The
State of Odisha and Ors. CA arising out of SLP(C) 5829/2023
in support of his submissions.
20. On the other hand, Mr. S. D. Sanjay, learned
Advocate General appearing for the respondents would contend
that the petition filed by the petitioner is infructuous, in as much
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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as the financial bids have been opened, the successful bidder has
been identified. He submitted that pursuant to NIT dated 11-05-
2026, the petitioner along with 6 bidders had participated in the
tender. The financial bids of the qualified bidders were opened
and the lowest bidder has been identified for the award of the
tender. He submitted that the bid evaluation process involves the
process from the opening of the technical bid and evaluation by
the TBEC. The technical bid is opened from the Online Portal
after downloading the documents uploaded by the bidder. The
TBEC takes into account only documents which are uploaded
on the EPROC Portal of the Government of Bihar. Upon
examination of the technical bid, the TBEC records a decision
declaring each of the bid to be either technically responsive or
non-responsive along with reasons for its decision.
21. If any person participating in the bid is aggrieved
by the decision of the TBEC, they are entitled to raise objection
within two days of the opening of the bids. All objections
received by the TBEC along with its decision are forwarded to
the Complaint/Grievance Committee constituted vide a
Departmental Notification issued from time to time and in the
instant case, it was issued by Letter No.2217 (E) dated
01.04.2026, Letter No. 2360 (E) dated 09.04.2026 and Letter
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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No.5625 (E) dated 17.08.2026. Thereafter, the
Complaint/Grievance Committee had agreed with the
recommendation of the TBEC and thereby rejected the
objections of the petitioner against the decision of the TBEC to
declare the bid of the petitioner non-responsive.
22. He stated that the reasons stated for declaring the
bid as non-responsive are (1) Bid Security Bank Guarantee
mentions that the Bank Guarantee will be operative when
accompanied with advice (SFMS) issued from the advising
Bank but the same advice SFMS was not uploaded on the
EPROC portal. In absence of the advice, SFMS, the Bank
Guarantee was conditional which was contrary to the expressive
bid terms contained in the Clause. The form of the security bid
was provided in the Section 4B of the NBD. The other bidders
have submitted, the Bank Guarantees in the same manner and
without any condition. On the basis of the recommendation in
the meeting, a final decision is recorded by the
Complaint/Grievance Committee which in the instant case has
rejected the objections dated 14.08.2026 of the petitioner.
Thereafter, the financial bids were opened.
23. He contended that it is a strange coincidence that
in the last three bids submitted by the petitioner, technical
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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lacuna have been found to be left on the basis of which the
petitioner has filed objections and litigated the matter before this
Court. It is also rather a strange coincidence that every time the
financial bid of the petitioner is substantially lower than the
Department’s estimate. The Final Order dated 27.07.2026 in
CWJC No. 15252 of 2025 is in the process of being challenged
and objections relating to abandoning the work by the petitioner
is also justified in light of the fact that although on technical
ground the petitioner wanted to resile out of its obligation under
the bid, but the intent, purpose and conduct of the petitioner
cannot be missed.
24. He stated that the averments made in I.A No. 01
of 2026 are concerned, the same are beyond the averments made
in the writ petition and as such these averments need not be
looked into as no opportunity to revert was given by the
respondents. Even otherwise, no rejoinder to the counter
affidavit has been filed. Hence, he seeks the dismissal of the bid
petition.
ANALYSIS
25. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties
and perused the record, the issue which arises for consideration
is whether the respondents are justified to treat the technical bid
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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of the petitioner as non-responsive.
26. The grounds on which bid of the petitioner was
treated as non-responsive are (1) failure to execute the
agreement in connection with two works awarded to the
petitioner under Road Division, Bihar Sharif and (2) the Bank
Guarantee executed is not in accordance with 17B Clause 17
and Serial 18 of the NIT, in as much as the uploaded Bank
Guarantee will be operative when accompanied with advice
(SFMS) issued from the advising Bank which makes it
conditional Bank Guarantee.
27. In so far as (1) above is concerned, Mr. Ranjan
has stated that LOA Nos. 1425 and 1426 have been set aside by
the Court, as such, there was no occasion to execute the
agreements which can be a ground to declare the technical bid
as non-responsive. His Submission was also the Clause 1.2.1 (b)
of Section 3 of MBD is not applicable as the respondents have
not brought on record even a single instance of poor
performance and also the Clause can be invoked only when an
agreement has been executed earlier and there is a failure on the
part of the bidder to execute the work; failure to execute any
agreement can lead to forfeiture of the earnest money and
cancellation of the agreement.
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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28. Whereas, the case of the respondents is that in
the last three bids submitted by the petitioner, technical lacunas
have been found, in as much as every time the financial bids of
the petitioner were substantially lower than the departmental
estimate i.e. submitting lower bids and then finding ways to stall
the tender process.
29. It is a conceded position that the Courts have set
aside the LoAs No. 1425 and 1426. The same was on the ground
that the respondents have not followed Clauses 27.2 and 27.4 of
the bid opening and evaluation provisions. So in that sense, the
agreements could not have been executed as the LoAs were set
aside. Mr. Ranjan is right in stating that the ground that there is
a failure on the part of the petitioner to execute the agreement in
connection with the two works shall not be available to the
respondents to treat the technical bid as non-responsive. Having
said that in so far as the ground (2) is concerned that the Bank
Guarantee was conditional has to be seen from the context of
the format of the Bank Guarantee provided in the NIT. The same
reads as under:-
“BANK GUARANTEE FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT
To:
____________________________________________ [name of Employer]
____________________________________________ [address of Employer]
____________________________________________ [name of Contract]
Gentlemen:
In accordance with the provisions of the General Conditions/ Particular Conditions,
Clause 45 (“Advance Payment”) of the above-mentioned Contract,
____________________________________________ [name and address of
Contractor] (hereinafter called “the Contractor”) shall deposit with
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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____________________________________________ [name of Employer] an unconditional
Bank Guarantee to guarantee his proper and faithful performance under the
said Clause of the Contract in an amount of ₹____________ [amount of
guarantee]¹ ______________________________ [in words].
We, the ____________________________________ [bank], as instructed by the Contractor,
agree
unconditionally and irrevocably to guarantee as primary obligator and not as Surety merely,
the payment to ____________________________________ [name of Employer] on his first
demand without whatsoever right of objection on our part and without his first claim to the
Contractor, in the amount not exceeding ₹________________ [amount of guarantee]¹
____________________________________________ [in words].
We further agree that no change or addition to or other modification of the terms of the
Contract or of Works to be performed there under or of any of the Contract documents
which may be made between ____________________________________ [name
of Employer] and the Contractor, shall in any way release us from any liability under this
guarantee, and we hereby waive notice of any such change, addition or modification.
This guarantee shall remain valid and in full effect from the date of the advance payment
under the Contract until ____________________________________ [name of
Employer] receives full repayment of the same amount from the Contractor.
Yours truly,
Signature and Seal: ____________________________________
Name of Bank: ________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________
¹ An amount shall be inserted by the bank representing the amount of the Advance Payment, &
denominated
in Indian Rupees
Section 8: Contract Forms”
30. The above clearly depicts that the Bank
Guarantee has to be unconditional. In fact, the stand of the
petitioner in Paragraph No. XIV of the writ petition is that the
tender document does not stipulate that Band Guarantee should
be conditional or unconditional nor any format is prescribed.
The stand is factually incorrect, in view of the format
reproduced above. We must state that Mr. Ranjan during his
submissions conceded that the Bank Guarantee has to be
unconditional. We are clear that the same is conditional because
at Page No. 401 of the Paper Book the Bank Guarantee reads as
under:-
“This Guarantee will be operative when
accompanied with advice (SFMS) issued
from the Advising Bank.”
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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31. According to Mr. Ranjan, the above condition
does not make the Bank Guarantee conditional and also the
same shall not have bearing or connection with the revocation,
forfeiture, or any other action in relation to the Bank Guarantee
by the Department. He also stated that the Bank Guarantee is
not conditional has been clarified to the Respondent No.4 by the
Bank that the aforesaid is a standard clause prescribed as per
banking procedure under RBI Guidelines and not as a
revocation, forfeiture or any other action.
32. The submissions of Mr. Ranjan are not
appealing. This we say so, as the above condition makes the
Bank Guarantee operative only when accompanied with an
advice (SFMS) and in that sense the Bank Guarantee was
conditional. Such a stipulation is at variance with the format
given in the bid document which we have reproduced above.
33. In fact, Mr. Sanjay has by drawing our attention
to the counter affidavit contended that in the absence of advice
SFMS the Bank Guarantee becomes conditional is appealing
because without the advice the Guarantee will not be
honoured/operative. So it follows looking from any angle the
Bank Guarantee was conditional.
34. The reliance placed by Mr. Ranjan on the letter
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of the Bank dated 14-08-2026 that it is a standard clause and has
no bearing or connection with revocation, forfeiture or any
action relating to Bank Guarantee by the Department, does not
answer the ground on which the respondents treated the
technical bid non-responsive. Suffice it to state the said Bank
Guarantee is conditional in the absence of any advice (SFMS).
35. The further submission of Mr. Sanjay that the
other bidders have submitted the Bank Guarantee in the
prescribed format without precondition would also justify the
decision of TBEC and Complaint/Grievance Committee in
treating the technical bid as non-responsive, is justified.
36. One of the submission of Mr. Ranjan is also that
TBEC headed by the Chief Engineer cannot take a final decision
with regard to opening of the financial bids or financial bid
evaluation. Suffice it to state that TBEC has only observed
about the opening of the financial bids. It does not say TBEC
shall open it. There is no dispute that the financial bids were
opened by the Departmental Tender Committee (DTC). Hence,
this plea is not appealing and is rejected. The plea that in terms
of Memo dated 05.02.2026 and the Memo dated 26.02.2026, it
is the DTC headed by the Secretary which has to take final
decision on the technical bids is concerned the same is
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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unmerited. The very nomenclature of TBEC, depict it is the
technical bid evaluation Committee; surely it evalute the
technical bids whether it is responsive or non-responsive. So to
that extent, the decision is binding. In any case, the petitioner is
estopped for contending so, for the reason it did submit its
objections to the Complaint/Grievance Committee. In that sense
it accepted the jurisdiction of the TBEC against whose decision
filed objections to the Complaint/Grievance Committee which
was constituted vide a Departmental Notifications issued time to
time as stated in the counter affidavit.
37. So the petitioner having accepted the decision of
the TBEC and having invoked the jurisdiction of
Complaint/Grievance Committee by submitting objections, it
cannot now challenge the very jurisdiction of the TBEC,
declaring its bid as non-responsive, that too on the ground it is
DTC which is competent.
38. In so far as the judgments relied upon by Mr.
Ranjan as noted above are concerned, surely those judgments
are not applicable in the fact situation and in view of our
conclusion above and as such are distinguishable.
39. Even otherwise, in the facts and circumstances
of the present case, the impugned action does not require any
Patna High Court CWJC No.13329 of 2026 dt.15-10-2026
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interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in the
absence of any prejudice, nor it is the case of the petitioner that
the impugned action is actuated by mala fide. In view of our
discussion above, we hold the petitioner is not entitled to the
reliefs sought. The writ petition is liable to be dismissed. We
order accordingly. No costs.
40. Pending application(s), if any, shall also stand
disposed of.
shailendra/-
(V. Kameswar Rao, CJ)
(Partha Sarthy, J) : I agree.
(Partha Sarthy, J)
AFR/NAFR A.F.R
CAV DATE 25.09.2026
Uploading Date 15.10.2026
Transmission Date N/A
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