IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.15947 of 2025 ====================================================== Vishanu Kumar Pandey @ Vishnu Kumar Pandey S/o Late Satya Narayan Pandey, R/O Vill- Pandey Chapra, P.O.- Ekma, P.S.- Rasulpur, District- Saran. ... ... Petitioner/s Versus 1. The State of Bihar through its Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar. 2. The State of Bihar through the Secretary, Rural Works Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna. 3. The Engineer-in Chief -Cum- Dy. Commissioner-Cum-Special Secretary, Rural Works Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna. 4. The Chief Engineer, South, Rural Works Department, Govt. of Bihar, Muzaffarpur. 5. The Superintending Engineer, Rural Works Department, works Division, Siwan. 6. The Nodal Officer, Mukhya Mantri Gram Samparak Yojana, Siwan. 7. The Executive Engineer, Rural Works Department, Works Division, Maharajganj. 8. E.R AP Construction Private Limited, through its Director, Anil Kumar Singh, R/o Vill- Dhanauti, P.O. and P.S.- Hajipur, Dist.- Vaishali. ... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Praveen Ranjan, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Ajay, GA-5 Mr. Durga Nand Jha, Advocate ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR SINGH and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH KUMAR VERMA ORAL ORDER (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR SINGH) 5 04-02-2026 The present writ application has been filed for the following reliefs: “i.) To set aside the part of the decision taken by the Technical Bid Committee, Rural Works Department, Bihar dated 11.09.2025 with respect to tender bearing Tender NIT no.- RWD/MMGSY(AWSESH-SC)/HQ/ET/2025- 26/11 Patna High Court CWJC No.15947 of 2025(5) dt.04-02-2026 2/7 under Package No.-MMGSY(AWSESH-SC)- Maharajganj-503(Tender Id-2025_ RWD_ 142361_ 1) dated 12.06.2025 issued by office of the Engineer-in-Chief, Rural Works Department, Govt. of Bihar, for a work at serial no.31 i.e.,” For Construction and 06-year routine maintenance work (output and performance based) for Rural Road/Bridge under component of Mukhya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojana (AWSESH-SC) whereby and where under the objections raised by the petitioner against the private respondent has been considered by the authority concerned but still declared private respondent qualified in technical bid in a flimsy and non-existent ground in a most arbitrary and mechanical manner. ii.) To hold and declare the technical bid of the private respondent as invalid in NIT no.- RWD/MMGSY(AWSESH-SC)/HQ/ET/2025-26/11 under Package No.-MMGSY(AWSESH-SC)- Maharajganj-503(Tender Id-2025_ RWD_ 142361 _1) dated 12.06.2025 issued by office of the Engineer-in-Chief, Rural Works Department, Govt. of Bihar and further direct the Respondents authority to declare petitioner as L1 in the Financial Bid after disqualification of private respondent and award tender in favour of the petitioner. iii.) To stay the further proceeding of NIT no.- RWD/ MMGSY (AWSESH-SC)/ HQ/ ET/ 2025-26/11 under Package No.-MMGSY (AWSESH-SC)-Maharajganj-503 (Tender Id-2025_ RWD_ 142361_ 1) dated 12.06.2025 issued by Patna High Court CWJC No.15947 of 2025(5) dt.04-02-2026 3/7 office of the Engineer-in-Chief, Rural Works Department, Govt. of Bihar, during the pendency of the writ application as Financial Bid is already opened and private respondent is the lowest bidder. iv) For any other order/orders for which petitioner is entitled for in the facts and circumstances of the case.” 2. The petitioner has assailed Annexure-P/4 in the present writ application. The petitioner was also one of the bidders in the tender in question. Upon declaration of the technical bid, both the petitioner as well as respondent No. 8 lodged complaints against each other. The impugned decision before this Court pertains to rejection of the complaint submitted by the petitioner by the competent authority. The reasons assigned for such rejection, as extracted from the impugned order, are as follows: fufonkdkj Vishanu Kumar Pandey }kjk vius i=kad&”kwU; fnukad&11-08-2025 }kjk fufonkdkj ER AP Construction Private Limited ds fo:) ifjokn fn;k x;k gSA izkIr ifjokn ds vkyksd esa dk;Zikyd vfHk;ark] xzkeh.k dk;Z foHkkx] dk;Z izeaMy] egkjktxat ds i=kad&1496 fnukad 29-08-2025 ds }kjk tkWp izfrosnu lefiZr fd;k gS] tks fuEuor~ gS %& dz e0 la0 fufonkdkj Vishanu Kumar Pandey }kjk fn;k x;k ifjokn dk;Zikyd vfHk;ark] dk;Z izeaMy csfr;k }kjk lefiZr tkWp izfrosnu 1 (a) fufonkdkj ER AP Construction Private Limited }kjk VsUMj vkbZ0Mh- 2025_RWD_142361_1 esa Mkys x;s fufonk esa Bid Already Submitted ugha fn;k x;k gS tks fd fufon ds CMBD ds (a) fufonkdkj ER AP Construction Private Limited }kjk CMBD ds dafMdk 4-2 ds (n) Patna High Court CWJC No.15947 of 2025(5) dt.04-02-2026 4/7 dafMdk&4-2 ds (n) dk mYya?ku gSA (b) fufonkdkj ER AP Construction Private Limited }kjk Mkys x;s fufonk dk “kiFk i= vius uke ls u [kjhn dj fMiksusV ds uke ls [kjhnk x;k gS] ftlls ;g izrhr gksrk gS fd muds }kjk Mkys x, “kiFk&i= fdlh vkSj ds }kjk [kjhns x, LVkai dks vius fufonk esa Mkyk x;k gS tks fd fufonk ds fu;eksa dk mYya?ku gSA (c) fufonkdkj ER AP Construction Private Limited }kjk Mkys x;s vius fufonk ds dkxtkrksa esa daiuh dk eqgj ugha yxk;k x;k ftlesa ;g izekf.kr ugha gksrk gS fd daiuh ds fdu MkbZjsDVj@eSusftax MkbZjsDVj }kjk fufonk ds dkxtkrksa ij gLrk{kj fd;k x;k gSA ds vuqlkj okafNr Bid Already Submitted izi= layXu ugha fd;k x;k gSA (b) fufonkdkj }kjk layXu “kiFk&i= fufonkdkj ds uke ls fuxZr ugha gS cfYd Name of Applicant esa Deponent “kCn vafdr gSA (c) fufonkdkj }kjk layXu dkxtkrksa ij daiuh@QeZ ds Article of Association ds rgr ukfer MkbZjsDVj ds }kjk gLrk{kj fd;k x;k gS ijUrq eksgj eqfnzr ugha gSA Lfefr dk earO;%& ifjoknh }kjk fn;k x;k ifjokn Substantial Responsive ds varxZr ugha gSA vr% CMBD dh dafMdk&24-2 ds vkyksd esa fn;s x;s ifjokn dks vekU; fd;k tkrk gSA 2 buds }kjk Mkys x;s Bank Certificate Hkh Hkzked gSA bldh lR;rk dh tkWp cSad }kjk djkbZ tk;A fufonkdkj }kjk fufonk esa Upload Bank Certificate dk lR;kiu lacaf/kr cSad ls djk;k x;k ,oa cSad }kjk bldh iqf’V dh x;h gSA lfefr dk earO;%& fufonkdkj ER AP Construction Private Limited }kjk fufonk esa layXu Bank Certificate dk lR;kiu djk;k x;k tks lgh ik;k x;kA vr% ifjoknh dk ifjokn vekU; fd;k tkrk gSA 3. The limited issue which arises for consideration before this Court is as to whether respondent No. 8 was substantially responsive at the time of evaluation of the technical bid by the respondents. 4. Clause 32 of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) governs the issue and reads as follows: Patna High Court CWJC No.15947 of 2025(5) dt.04-02-2026 5/7 “32. The result of evaluation of Part-I (Technical Bid) shall be made public on e- procurement following which there will be a period of 5 Working days from the date of uploading the result of Technical Bid Evaluation during which bidders, who participated in the bid, may submit complaint which may be considered for resolution before opening of part-II (Financial bid) of the bid. Any complaint received from bidders beyond 5 working days from the date of uploading of result of Technical Bid shall not be entertained. In case the decision is changed after redressal of complaint of all issues raised by bidders during the 5 working days already allotted, then further 3 working days from the date of uploading of Re-technical result will be allotted. During this period, representation/complaint regarding only about the change in the decision of the committee in the Re- technical Evaluation shall be entertained. No fresh complaint on other bidders/issues shall be considered. In case if there is no change in the result after re-technical evaluation then the process of opening of financial bid/retender shall be done as per direction in the minutes of meeting of the retechnical evaluation. Complaint shall be entertained only on the items, necessary to make a bid substantially responsive, that is on the items mentioned in ITB 24.2. Any complaint/Representation as above shall be on Affidavit supported with evidence. Patna High Court CWJC No.15947 of 2025(5) dt.04-02-2026 6/7 Any Complaint without evidence & affidavit shall not be entertained.” 5. It is required to be noted that the said NIT is to be read and construed in consonance with Clause 24.2 of the ITB of CMBD. Clause 24.2 reads as under: “24.2 A substantially responsive bid is one that meets the requirements of the Bidding Document without material deviation, reservation, or omission. The mandatory requirements for a substantially responsive bid is mentioned in Bid Data Sheet. A material deviation, reservation, or omision is one that, (a) if accepted, would (i) Affect in any substantial way the scope, quality or performance of the Works specified in the Contract; or (ii) Limit in any substantial way, inconsistent with the Bidding Document, the Engineer-in- chief-cum-Additional Commisioner-cum- Special Secretary/ Engineer-in-chief’s rights or the Bidder’s obligations under the proposed Contract; or (b) If rectified, would unfairly affect the competitive position of other Bidders presenting substantially responsive bids.” 6. Disqualification can be resorted to only when a bidder is found to be substantially non-responsive and non- Patna High Court CWJC No.15947 of 2025(5) dt.04-02-2026 7/7 compliant with the stipulations contained in Clause 24.2 of the ITB. Upon consideration of the complaint preferred by the petitioner, the respondents arrived at the conclusion that there was no contravention of Clause 24.2 of the ITB by respondent No. 8 and, accordingly, rejected the complaint lodged by the petitioner. 7. Having regard to the limited scope of judicial review in matters pertaining to tender evaluation and finding no perversity or arbitrariness in the decision making process, this Court finds no merit in the present writ application. 8. Accordingly, the present writ application stands dismissed. 9. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of. Anushka/- (Sudhir Singh, J) (Rajesh Kumar Verma, J) U