Fox & Mandal represented the Century Infra Limited, the successful bidder, in a challenge to a concluded e-auction process.
A writ petition was filed by unsuccessful bidders seeking re-auctioning or re-opening of the techno-commercial bid stage, on the ground of alleged technical glitches encountered during the e-auction process. The petitioners contended that these glitches had prejudiced their participation and warranted a fresh opportunity to bid. The Court dismissed the writ petition on grounds of bidder responsibility and the finality of the auction process.
The matter involved addressing a nuanced issue of bidder-side technical glitches in e-auctions, requiring careful factual and legal analysis to demonstrate the absence of fault on the part of the auctioning authority and to prevent any dilution of process integrity.
The team played a critical role in safeguarding the client’s status as the highest bidder by resisting attempts to re-open a concluded e-auction. The engagement required balancing equities — highlighting the prejudice that would accrue to the successful bidder — and leveraging precedent to establish that permitting re-entry would amount to granting an impermissible second opportunity, thereby reinforcing judicial reluctance to interfere in completed tender processes.
The Team consisted of Debanjan Mandal (Managing Partner), Sourav Bhagat (Partner), Jishnujit Roy (Senior Associate), and Deveshi Bose (Associate).
