Arbitrary Disqualification of Technical Bid Set Aside
the Judgment dated 11.5.2026 of the High Court of Delhi in Writ Petition (Civil) No.4147 of 2026 of M/s Sapphire Media Limited Vs. NBCC Services Limited and another with connected matters
Delhi HC — Arbitrary Disqualification of Technical Bid Set Aside
Tender Evaluation Must Be Reasoned, Transparent and Within the Four Corners of Bid Conditions
As per the tender conditions, the petitioner had submitted two solvency certificates. The bid of the petitioner was substantially lower than the bid of the respondent no.2.
As per the communication dated 24.3.2026, the objection was raised and clarification was sought that the Bank Solvency Certificates were beyond the period of 6 months as prescribed in Clause 2(B)(ii) of the Tender notice.
In response, on 25.3.2026 the petitioner submitted two solvency certificates – one dated 23.3.2026 for Rs.35 crores and another dated 11.2.2026 for Rs.15 crores.
However, the respondent no.1 disqualified the petitioner.
HELD that Clause 2(B)(iii) of NIT as also the clarification merely required the bidder to furnish certificate “issued” by the bank within 6 months from the original last date of submission of the tender. Once the revised certificates were called for, it could not have been rejected as fresh / new document when it otherwise fulfilled the other terms of the NIT.
Consequently, exclusion of bidders merely on a myopic view or on hyper-technical grounds would be akin to defeating the very object of a tender process for maximisation of public value.
