Dismissed¶80

Anand Comforts Pvt. Ltd., v. the State of Karnataka

Karnataka HC21 Jan 2026WP/36762/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Tender bid rejection; technical bid; GST registration certificate; HSN code mismatch; authorised dealer; suo motu cancellation of GST registration; General Tender Condition No. 5[ii]; sale centre in each district requirement; Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, 1999 and Rules, 2000; supply of bedding kits for hostels; Department/Directorate of Minority Welfare, Government of Karnataka; Anand Comforts Pvt. Ltd.; Peps Industries Private Limited; Repose Mattress Private Limited; Article 226 writ petition; WP No. 36762 of 2025 (GM-TEN); Justice B M Shyam Prasad; petition dismissed/rejected.

What did the court decide?

The onus of making a complete submission is on the bidder in terms of the Tender Conditions, and the submission is complete only when all the prescribed documents are submitted or uploaded. ¶80

Anand Comforts Pvt. Ltd., Vs the State of Karnataka — Company and Corporate | Karnataka HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Dismissed

¶80

Issue for consideration

Whether this Court must interfere with the decision to reject the petitioner's technical bid when the petitioner is unable to dispute that one of its authorized dealers had cancelled the GST registration much prior to the date of the submission.

¶73

Court's answer

The onus of making a complete submission is on the bidder in terms of the Tender Conditions, and the submission is complete only when all the prescribed documents are submitted or uploaded.

¶80

Ratio / Principle

The petitioner should have uploaded the valid GST Registration Certificate of every Authorised Dealer but failed by submitting the details of a suspended GST Registration Certificate of one of its authorised dealers; the contention that the petitioner was not informed and could have substituted the dealer does not persuade the Court.

¶80

Key takeaways

The question framed is answered against the petitioner and the petition is rejected.ratio¶80

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the order dated 20.11.2025 (Annexure-A) of the second respondent (Directorate of Minority Welfare) rejecting the petitioner's bid in a tender floated on 18.09.2025 for supply of bedding kits (mattresses, bedspreads, polyester fibre pillows, pillow covers, quilts, comforters, jamkhana) for hostels. Under General Tender Condition No. 5[ii], the bidder or its authorised dealer was required to have at least one sale centre in each district of Karnataka for 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, supported by GST registration certificates. The bid was rejected because the HSN codes associated with the GST numbers furnished for several districts did not correspond to the tender goods, and one of the petitioner's authorised dealers had suo motu cancelled its GST registration much prior to submission. Held: the onus of making a complete submission lies on the bidder in terms of the Tender Conditions, and the submission is complete only when all prescribed documents are uploaded; the petitioner having failed to upload a valid GST Registration Certificate of every authorised dealer, the Court answered the framed question against the petitioner and rejected the petition.

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NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU

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DATED THIS THE 21^ST DAY OF JANUARY, 2026

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BEFORE

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THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B M SHYAM PRASAD

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WRIT PETITION NO. 36762 OF 2025 (GM-TEN)

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BETWEEN:

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ANAND COMFORTS PVT. LTD., A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF

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THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956

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HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AND WORKS AT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, BANDIHALLI TIPTUR- 572 201

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Digitally signed by VANAMALA N

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Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA

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DISTRICT TUMKUR KARNATAKA REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR H.L. ASHWATHNARAYAN.

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…PETITIONER

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(BY SRI. PRAMOD N. KATHAVI., SENIOR ADVOCATE FOR SMT. RACHANA BHARADWAJ R., ADVOCATE)

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AND:

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THE STATE OF KARNATAKA DEPARTMENT OF MINORITY WELFARE, ROOM NO 204 AND 205

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NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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2^ND FLOOR, VIKASA SOUDHA DR. AMBEDKAR VEEDHI BENGALURU-560 001 BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY.

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THE DIRECTORATE OF MINORITY WELFARE MOULANA ABDUL KALAM AZAD BHAVAN NO. 16C, MILLER'S TANK BED AREA VASANTHANAGAR BENGALURU-560052 BY ITS DIRECTOR.

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PEPS INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED S.F. 192 7/83 THAPALAYAM, ARASUR POST, COIMBATORE-641407 REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR REGISTERED UNDER COMPANIES ACT.

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REPOSE MATTRESS PRIVATE LIMITED NO 3/19, SELAMBARAYANPALAYAM CHENNAPPA CHETTY PUDUR POST, PADHUVAMPALLI VILLAGE COIMBATORE, 641659 REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR.

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…RESPONDENTS

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(BY SRI. KIRAN V RON., AAG A/W SMT. SARITHA KULKARNI., AGA FOR R1; SRI. ABHISHEK KUMAR., ADVOCATE FOR R2; SRI. VIKRAM HUILGOL., SENIOR ADVOCATE FOR SRI. ADIT CHANDANAGOUDAR., ADVOCATE FOR R3, R4 & R5)

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¶30

NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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THIS WP IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO-CALL FOR THE RECORDS PERTAINING TO THE ORDER DATED 20.11.2025 (ANNEXURE-A) PASSED BY THE 2^ND RESPONDENT; QUASH THE ORDER DATED 20.11.2025 (ANNEXURE-A) PASSED BY THE 2^ND RESPONDENT REJECTING THE BID OR TENDER OF THE PETITIONER; DIRECT THE 2^ND RESPONDENT TO RECONSIDER THE TENDER / BID OF THE PETITIONER AND OTHER TENDERERS INCLUDING THOSE OF THE 3^RD AND 4^TH RESPONDENTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE KARNATAKA TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS ACT, 1999 READ WITH KARNATAKA TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS RULES, 2000.

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THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ORDERS, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B M SHYAM PRASAD

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¶36

NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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ORAL ORDER

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The petitioner has filed its bids in response to the tender floated on 18.09.2025 for supply of bedding kits including mattresses, bedspreads, polyester fibre pillow, pillow covers, quilt, comforter, jamkhana [ the Bedding Kits ] for hostels. The Tender mentions the documents to be furnished by a tenderer, and the General Tender Conditions stipulates [ as part of the General Condition No. 5 [ii] ] that a bidder/the bidder's authorised dealer should have at least one sale centre in each District of the State for the years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 [the relevant three years] with the condition that the bidder should furnish copies of the Certificates of Goods and Service Tax registration [for short, 'the Certificate' ] issued by the competent authority.

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The second respondent has rejected petitioner's bid, and the reason assigned by the second respondent for such decision is as follows:

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¶42

NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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"As per tender condition No.5[ii] "The bidder or his authorized dealer should have at least one sales centre in each district of Karnataka for the previous three years i.e., 2022-23, 202324 and 2024-25. The bidder shall furnish copies of the Goods and Service Tax [GST] registration certificates issued by the competent authority.". In accordance with the above condition the GST numbers and their corresponding HSN codes furnished by the bidders have been verified. [HSN is an international system used to classify goods in a uniform manner. It helps identify the type of product, its nature and applicable tax rate under GST. When a business obtains a GST number, it must mention the HSN code on its invoices and returns. This helps identify the types of goods being traded with respect to the above and considering the nature of the items listed in the tender [supply of rubberised coir mattress, bedsheet polyurethane fibre pillow, woollen blanket, jamakhana] the HSN codes associated with the GST numbers submitted by the bidder for the respective districts [Vijayapura, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Gadag, Haveri, Kolar, Mandya, Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada and Vijayanagar] do not correspond to or match

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NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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the category of goods mentioned in the tender. After discussion in the meeting, the committee unanimously decided that the bidder is not eligible to open the financial bid."

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On 12.01.2026, this Court, upon hearing Sri Pramod N Kathavi, the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, and Sri DR Ravishankar, the learned Senior Counsel for the third respondent [ the successful bidder ], has taken on record the statement on behalf of the third respondent that though the goods are kept ready for supply, there would be no precipitation until the next date of hearing, and this interim arrangement is continued as of today.

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The petition is taken up for final disposal with Sri Kiran V Ron, the learned Additional Advocate General placing on record certain photographs to demonstrate urgency and submitting that the tender is floated calling for bids to supply Bedding Kits because of the sad state of the bedding facilities in

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NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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the concerned hostels. Sri Vikram Huilgol, the learned Senior Counsel for the third respondent, reiterating the urgency submits that the third respondent has got the goods ready and unless the goods are supplied, the third respondent would be under constraints.

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Sri Pramod N Kathavi submits that the General Condition No. 5[ii] only stipulates that a bidder/the bidder's authorised dealer should have at least one Sale Centre in each district for the relevant three years and that the bidder should furnish a copy of the Certificate but this Condition does not specify that the Certificate will be the basis for the Tender Accepting Authority to verify whether a bidder/the bidder's authorised dealer is engaged in the business of the Bedding Kits in each district and that unless it is specifically stipulated so in the tender, the petitioner's bid could not have been rejected on the

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¶57

NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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ground that the Certificates furnished by the petitioner does not relate to the Bedding Kits .

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In elaboration, Sri Pramod N Kathavi canvasses that the GST portal only permits five fields to enter the HSN Codes and this does not mean that a bidder/its authorised dealer does not deal with goods other than the five goods/services as per the five HSN Codes mentioned in the Portal and that if the Tender Accepting Authority had to verify whether a bidder/its authorised dealer are indeed engaged in the business of Bedding Kits , the authority should have asked for relevant documents and could not have gone by the HSN Codes mentioned in the Certificate. In fact, the learned Senior Counsel relies upon a compilation of the GST Certificates uploaded by the petitioner as part of the tender documents to assert that factually it cannot be disputed that the GST Portal only allows five fields to enter HSN Codes.

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NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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6. Sri Kiran V Ron and Sri Vikram Huilgol,

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without proposing to dispute that the GST Portal indeed limits only five fields for HSN Codes or that the General Conditions do not specify that the GST Certificates will be scrutinised to verify whether a dealer is engaged in the business of Bedding Kits , and without joining debate on the assertion that the Tender Condition should have mentioned the same, canvass that the petitioner cannot dispute that the Certificates produced by it contains certain Certificates issued for goods with one or two HSN Codes.

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Crucially, the learned Additional Advocate General and the learned Senior Counsel emphasize that it is incumbent on every bidder to submit subsisting GST Certificates of its Authorised Dealers and that the petitioner cannot dispute that the Certificate produced by one of its Authorised Dealer

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10 -

¶68

NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

¶69

HC-KAR

¶70

had been cancelled suo motu way back in the year 2022.

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The question formulated for consideration

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in view of the rival submissions is:

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It is not being argued before this Court

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that the bid would be complete if an authorized dealer of a bidder did not have a valid GST Certificate. This would be significant because it is undisputed that one of the petitioner's Authorised Dealers had suo motu cancelled the GST Certificate much prior to the date of the submission. Sri Pramod N Kathavi argues that the petitioner is not informed about this and if the petitioner was informed, it could

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11 -

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NC: 2026:KHC:3440 WP No. 36762 of 2025

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HC-KAR

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have had an opportunity to substitute the Authorised dealer with another who possessed a valid GST registration Certificate.

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This proposition does not persuade this Court because it must be incontrovertible that the onus of making a complete submission must be on the bidder in terms of the Tender Conditions and that the complete submission will be only when all the prescribed documents are submitted or uploaded. The petitioner should have uploaded the valid GST Registration Certificate of every Authorised Dealer but has failed on this count in submitting the details of a suspended GST Registration Certificate of one of its authorised dealers. As such, this Court answers the question framed against the petitioner and the petition is rejected.

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SD/(B M SHYAM PRASAD) JUDGE

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AN/-

Anand Comforts Pvt. Ltd., v. the State of Karnataka

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Anand Comforts Pvt. Ltd., v. the State of Karnataka

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

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