A petitioner challenged a tender notice issued by Kerala State Electricity Board alleging violation of the Stores Purchase Manual due to brand name specifications and argument that the item was not reserved for the Small Scale Sector. The court rejected both contentions and dismissed the writ petition.
The writ petition is dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT :
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANTONY DOMINIC
THURSDAY, THE 24TH NOVEMBER 2011 / 3RD AGRAHAYANA 1933
WP(C).No. 18360 of 2011(T)
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PETITIONER(S):
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MANOJ R.NAIR, MANAGING PARTNER, M/S. R.G.ELECTRONICS, PADINJATTINKARA, KOTTARAKKARA P.O., KOLLAM DISTRICT.
BY ADV. SRI.T.P.PRADEEP
RESPONDENT(S):
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1. KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD, REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN, VYDYUTHI BHAVAN, PATTOM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695 004.
2. THE CHIEF ENGINEER (DISTRIBUTION CENTRAL), GANDHI SQUARE, D.H.ROAD, ERNAKULAM-16.
3. ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY, STORES PURCHASE (A) DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695 001.
R1 & 2 BY SRI.P.SANTHALINGAM, SENIOR ADVOCATE ADVS. SRI.T.R.RAJAN,SC,K.S.E.B.
SRI.P.P.THAJUDEEN, SC, K.S.E.B
R3 BY SR. GOVT. PLEADER SMT.M.J. RAJASHREE
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 24/11/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
svs
W.P.(C). NO. 18360/2011
APPENDIX
PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:
RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS:
/TRUE COPY/
P.A. TO JUDGE.
svs
ANTONY DOMINIC, J.
W.P.(C) No. 18360 of 2011 T
Dated this the 24th day of November, 2011
J U D G M E N T
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Petitioner, the Managing Partner of a partnership
firm, claims to be a Small Scale Industrial Unit, the registration certificate of which has been produced as Ext.P5. Going by Ext.P5, the Unit is engaged in the manufacture of Tubes, Sodium Vapour Fittings, Copper and Electronic Chokes, Inverters, CFL and T-5 Fittings. They approached this Court challenging Ext.P1, a tender notice issued by the Kerala State Electricity Board inviting competitive tenders from the manufacturers for the supply of 7000 sets of 2 x 40 w, 120 cm, Fluorescent Tube Street Light Fittings with Vacuum Impregnated Copper Chokes and without tubes.
W.P.(C) No.18360/2011
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Stores Purchase Manual. Second contention is that the product tendered is exclusively reserved for the Small Scale
Sector in Kerala State, in terms of Note (i) to clause 38(a) of the Stores Purchase Manual.
have been specified in Ext.P1 tender notice is concerned, the objectionable portion of Ext.P1 tender notice reads thus:-
“Sealed, competitive tenders are invited from the manufacturers of reputed brands such as Bajaj, Crompton Greaves, Havells, Philips, Orison etc.”
W.P.(C) No.18360/2011
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and, therefore, Ext.P1 is against the provisions of the Stores Purchase Manual cannot be accepted.
W.P.(C) No.18360/2011
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Ext.P1. Therefore, the contention that Ext.P1 is opposed the provisions of the Stores Purchase Manual also cannot be accepted. As a necessary corollary, it should also be said that since the tender invited was not only from the manufacturers of the brands mentioned in Ext.P1, if the petitioner is a manufacturer of a reputed brand of the product specified therein, the conditions of Ext.P1 tender notice did not prevent the petitioner from submitting his tender.
W.P.(C) No.18360/2011
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Appendix XXVIIIA is the list of items mentioned in the Note referred to above and item 188 is “Street Light Fittings”. The contention raised on behalf of the respondents is that the item tendered in Ext.P1 is not merely Street Light Fittings and, therefore, item 188 relied on has no relevance. As already seen, Ext.P1 tender notice describes the material tendered as 2 x 40 w, 120 cm, Fluorescent Tube Street Light Fittings with Vacuum Impregnated Copper Chokes and without tubes. Going by the descriptions of the goods contained in Ext.P1 tender notice, it can be seen that it is not merely Street Light Fittings that are tendered but also Street Light Fittings with additional items such as Vacuum Impregnated Copper Chokes. Such a product cannot be equated to what is included in item 188 to claim that it is one which is entirely reserved for procurement from Small Scale Industrial Unit in the State. If that be so, this second submission made also does not have any merit.
W.P.(C) No.18360/2011
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that Ext.P1 tender was necessitated as a part of Tsunami rehabilitation. According to them, they had initially placed purchase orders to few suppliers and that those orders had to be cancelled. It is therefore contended that to ensure quality of the product procured, it was necessary to make the specifications, which have been indicated in Ext.P1 and that the same has been done in public interest. In the light of my conclusions of the two contentions and also the justification offered by the counter affidavit, I do not find any substance in the writ petition.
Writ petition fails and accordingly, it is dismissed.
Sd/- (ANTONY DOMINIC, JUDGE)
aks/26/11
// True Copy //
P.A. To Judge
2 issues framed by the court
Whether specifying brand names in a tender notice violates the Stores Purchase Manual.
Whether the tender item falls exclusively under the list of goods reserved for the Small Scale Sector under Appendix XXVIIIA of the Stores Purchase Manual.
3 provisions across 1 enactments
MANOJ R.NAIR
KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD
THE CHIEF ENGINEER (DISTRIBUTION CENTRAL)
ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY, STORES PURCHASE (A) DEPARTMENT
ANTONY DOMINIC
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
