While dismissing Tata Motors’ plea, a bench of the top court led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also partly set aside the Bombay High Court judgment that had directed BEST to issue a fresh tender for electric buses.
While the high court had upheld Tata Motors’ disqualification, it had also termed BEST’s decision to hold Hyderabad-based EVEY Trans Pvt Ltd‘s ‘responsive’ bid as “incorrect”.
The top court said that to set at naught the entire tender process at the stage when the contract is well underway would not be in public interest.
Evey Trans had emerged as the successful bidder in the earlier tender process and was awarded the contract for operating 1,400 single-deck electric buses with drivers in Mumbai and its extended suburbs on a gross cost contract model for 12 years.
BEST had accepted Evey’s offer on the representation that it would deliver buses that would be running 200 km on a single charge with not more than 80% battery being consumed. However, Tata Motors’ bid was found to be “technically non-responsive”.
While BEST has challenged the high court’s decision asking it to issue a fresh tender, Evey has filed a separate appeal against quashing the tender that was awarded to it in a “fair and transparent manner”. Tata Motors had also filed an appeal against its disqualification.According to the judgment, it’s only Tata Motors which has deviated from the material and the essential terms of the tender.
The top court also cautioned courts from exercising their powers of judicial review in contractual or commercial matters.
