Allowed

Shri Saibaba Sansthan Shirdi through Its Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dashrath Jadhav v. the State of Maharashtra through Its Principal Secretary

Bombay HC9 Jun 2023CA/3678/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court of Bombay Bench at Aurangabad granted an interim application seeking ex-post facto sanction for the purchase of grocery items worth over Rs. 44 lakh under the Swiss Challenge Method. While deprecating this deviation from standard tendering rules, the court permitted the one-time exception but explicitly barred future reliance on such methods.

What did the court decide?

Grant of ex-post facto sanction for the purchase of grocery items made via the Swiss Challenge Method on a one-time basis, subject to a ban on future use of the method.

Shri Saibaba Sansthan Shirdi through Its Chief Executive Officer… — Corruption | Bombay HC (2023)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD

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CIVIL APPLICATION NO.3678 OF 2023
(SHREE SAI BABA SANSTHAN TRUST SHIRDI VS. THE STATE OF
MAHARASHTRA, THROUGH IT'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY)

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IN

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PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO.98 OF 2021

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Mr.A.S.Bajaj, Advocate for the Applicant.
Mr.D.R.Kale, GP for the Respondent/State.
Mr.Ajinkya Kale h/f Talekar and Associates, Advocate for the Petitioner
in PIL.

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( CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE AND Y. G. KHOBRAGADE, JJ.)

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DATE : JUNE 9, 2023

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PER COURT:

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1.The Applicant Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Trust has put forth

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prayer clause 'B' as under :-

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"B. The applicant may kindly be permitted to implement the Circulatory
Resolution dated 13.01.2023 for purchase of various grocery items, as
approved by the Ad-hoc Committee for which Rs.44,96,490/- is spent."

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2.On 17.03.2023, we had passed the following order :-

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"1.During the hearing of this application, we are informed
that it was the District Collector of Ahmednagar, who introduced the
Swiss Challenge Method as a substitute for tender process. 3000

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khs/June 2023/3678

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quintals of pure cow ghee is desired to be purchased from the earlier
supplier.

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2.The Petitioner shall place before us the scheme of Swiss
Challenge Method and reasons as to why there was a shift from the
earlier tendering process to this method for purchasing huge quantities
of consumables that are required by the Shri Saibaba Sansthan, Shirdi.
We also expect an explanation from the CEO as to why an ex-post facto
purchase of pure cow ghee of hundred quintals is sought, when the
necessity was for the month of December 2022 to March 2023.

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3.Same is the case in CA No.3678/2023, where post facto
permission for having purchased grocery items worth Rs.44,94,490/- .

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4.Unless we are convinced, we would not grant both these
civil applications.

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5.Stand over to 24.03.2023 in the “passing orders category”.

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3.The learned Advocate for the Applicant submits that due to
unforeseen circumstances, ex-post facto sanction for the purchase of
various grocery items from an earlier contractor, is sought as the
purchase has already been made. We have perused the additional
affidavit filed by the Applicant dated 19.04.2023. We find that the
Swiss Challenge Method, which is said to be a substitute for the tender

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khs/June 2023/3678

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process, was introduced by the District Collector, Ahmednagar. Huge
quantity of various grocery items were purchased from the earlier
supplier. Apparently, there is a shift from the earlier tendering process
to this method for purchasing huge quantities of consumables. This
cannot be countenanced.

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5.We seriously deprecate the process adopted by the
applicant. Until specifically permitted by this court, the Applicant would
not adopt the Swiss Challenge method and shall continue to follow the
tendering process. Henceforth, we would not be granting ex-post facto
sanction for any purchase made by the Applicant de-hors the rules.

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6.By way of an exception and considering the peculiar
situation in which the purchase has already been made and
complications would occur if the sanction is not granted, that we are
granting this application in terms of prayer clause "B". We make it
clear that henceforth, no such orders would be passed.

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7. We are now informed by the learned Advocate for the
Applicant, on instructions, that henceforth the applicant would not

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khs/June 2023/3678

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follow the Swiss Challenge Method and it was purely a one time act
with regard to purchase of grocery.

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 ( Y. G. KHOBRAGADE, J. ) ( RAVINDRA V. GHUGE, J.)

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khs/June 2023/3678

Shri Saibaba Sansthan Shirdi through Its Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dashrath Jadhav v. the State of Maharashtra through Its Principal Secretary

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Shri Saibaba Sansthan Shirdi through Its Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dashrath Jadhav v. the State of Maharashtra through Its Principal Secretary

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

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