Summary
The Supreme Court set aside a direction to retrieve and consider an unacknowledged electronic tender as valid. NIC, which developed and maintained the portal, stated that the bid process was incomplete without freezing and that the documents could not be retrieved after bid opening. Other bids were acknowledged, no system glitch was shown, and the bidder sought no timely assistance despite time remaining. The High Court’s direction effectively gave an impermissible second opportunity.
Issues
- Whether the court should direct retrieval and consideration of an unacknowledged e-tender in the face of the portal operator’s evidence.
Held
- NIC’s affidavit explained that it lacked the keys and approved process to download invalid bid documents, and that even the authority’s keys could not retrieve them after the bid-opening event. The bidder’s consultant’s contrary opinion did not displace the evidence of the body that developed and maintained the portal. (¶¶ 7, 8, 10)
- NIC reported that the bidder failed to press the freeze button necessary to complete submission, that the server had no relevant problem and that other submissions were successfully acknowledged. The bidder, familiar with the process, did not seek assistance during the remaining forty-four minutes. Those circumstances supported the conclusion that its bid was invalid. (¶¶ 9, 10)
- The direction to treat the uploaded documents as a valid bid and consider them effectively conferred a second opportunity. In these circumstances the High Court’s retrieval-and-consideration direction could not stand. (¶¶ 3, 10, 11)
Result
Authority’s appeal allowed; High Court directions requiring retrieval and consideration of the bidder’s documents as a valid bid set aside.