Alpine Ethanol Private Limited vs Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

CNR No : HCBM020370202026

901-WPL-37019-2026 (OS)-JF.doc
Ashwini
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
Digitally
signed by
ASHWINI
PRASAD
NARHIRE
Date:
2026.11.03
18:25:35
+0530
ASHWINI
PRASAD
NARHIRE
WRIT PETITION (L) NO.37019 OF 2026
1. Alpine Ethanol Private Limited )
A company incorporated under the )
Companies Act, 2013, bearing CIN )
U23200KA2022PTC169719, having its )
registered oﬃce at No. 17/3, Harris )
Road, Benson Town, Bengaluru - 560 046, )
Karnataka, through its Managing Director, )
Mr. Syed Abdul Kabeer )
2. Mr. Syed Ahmed Zahir )
Being a director and shareholder of )
the Petitioner Company Having his )
registered oﬃce address at 17/3, )
Harris Road, Benson Town, Bengaluru, )
Karnataka - 560 046 ) ... PETITIONER
VERSUS
1. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited )
A Government of India Enterprise, )
having its registered oﬃce at Bharat )
Bhavan, 4 & 6 Currimbhoy Road, )
Ballard Estate, Mumbai - 400 038, )
and its Central Procurement Organisation )
(Marketing) at 'A' Installation, Sewree Fort )
Road, Sewree (East), Mumbai - 400 015 )
2. Indian Oil Corporation Limited )
A Government of India Enterprise, )
having its registered oﬃce at Indian )
Oil Bhavan, G-9, Ali Yavar Jung Marg, )
Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400 051 )
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3. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation )
Limited )
A Government of India Enterprise, )
having its registered oﬃce at Petroleum )
House, 17, Jamshedji Tata Road, )
Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020 )
4. Mangalore Reﬁnery and Petrochemicals )
Limited )
A Government of India Enterprise, )
having its Registered oﬃce at Kuthethoor )
P.O., Via Katipalla, Mangaluru - 575 030, )
Karnataka )
5. Numaligarh Reﬁnery Limited )
A Government of India Enterprise, )
having its registered oﬃce at 122A, )
G. S. Road, Christianbasti, )
Guwahati – 781 005, Assam )
6. Union of India )
Through the Secretary, Minstry of )
Petroleum and Natural Gas, )
Shastri Bhawan, )
New Delhi – 110 001 )... RESPONDENTS
….
Mr. Janak Dwarkadas, Senior Advocate with Mr. Shadab Jan,
Ms. Suchitra Valjee, Mr. Arjun Bhal and Ms. Neelakshi Pal i/b
Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Navroz Seervai, Senior Advocate, with Mr. Mustafa Doctor,
Senior Advocate (through VC), Mr. Abeezar Faizullabhoy,
Mr. Murtaza Kachwalla, Mr. Nikhilesh Koundinya, Mr. Abhinav
Naiknaware and Mr. Shaumil Deb, i/b Indus Law, for the
Respondent Nos.1 to 3.
...
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CORAM : MAHESH CHANDRA TRIPATHI, CJ. &
ADVAIT M. SETHNA, J.
th
RESERVED ON : 29 OCTOBER, 2026.
rd
PRONOUNCED ON : 3 NOVEMBER, 2026.
JUDGMENT (Per Advait M. Sethna, J.) :-
1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith with the consent of
parties.
2. The instant Writ Petition is preferred under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India for the following substantive reliefs:
“(a) issue a writ of mandamus or a writ in the nature of
mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction,
directing Respondent No.1 to forthwith enable the Petitioner
Company to view, download and respond to the said Tender on the
said Portal, and to permit the Petitioner Company to submit its
quantity bid through the said Portal on or before the due date, or if
the due date has elapsed, within such time as this Hon’ble Court
may ﬁx;
(b) issue a writ of mandamus or a writ in the nature of
mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction,
directing Respondent Nos.1 to 5 to consider the Petitioner
Company’s bid on merits, along with bids of all other bidders,
strictly in accordance with the terms of the said Tender.”
3. The Petitioners are primarily aggrieved by their non-
participation in a large-scale Tender ﬂoated by Respondent No. 1 -
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited ( “BPCL” for short),
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concerning procurement of approximately 1,100 crore litres of
Denatured Anhydrous Ethanol for the Year 2026–2027.
I. Factual Matrix:
4. The facts necessary for adjudication of this Petition are noted
below:
5. The Petitioner No. 1 is a company engaged in establishing and
operating a grain-based distillery for the manufacture and supply of
Ethanol. It claims to have established a 200 KLPD distillery in the
State of Karnataka for the production of fuel Ethanol.
th
6. On 13 January 2025, an Expression of Interest bearing No.
2025_01 ( “EOI” for short) was published inviting applications from
prospective vendors for enrollment for the supply of Denatured
“said Ethanol”
Anhydrous Ethanol ( for short) to Oil Marketing
st
Companies ( “OMCs” for short) for the period ending on 31 October
2027.
th
7. On 16 October 2026, the Respondent No. 1 issued a
Quantity Bid Tender bearing ID No. 26985 and Reference No.
1000466894 (C-1) ( “Subject Tender” for short), for the
procurement of approximately 1,100 crore litres of said Ethanol for
the Ethanol Supply Year 2026–2027.
th
8. The EOI was published on 13 January 2025. Thereafter, the
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th
Tender was ﬂoated on 16 October 2026. During this period, the
Petitioners have not made any application or initiated the process
in terms of enrollment as a registered vendor with the Integrated
Ethanol Management System ( “IEMS” for short) for supply of the
said Ethanol to the OMCs, as stipulated in the EOI. Moreover, the
Tender document categorically deﬁnes the expression
“Vendor/Registered Vendor” to include any legal entity registered
with the OMCs for the supply of Ethanol.
nd
9. On 22 October 2026, the Petitioners received an email from
C1 India Software Support team, which manages the E-
Procurement portal on behalf of Respondent No.1, stating that the
Petitioner’s request for registration in BPCL E-tendering portal has
been accepted and providing the details of further process.
10. Thereafter, the Petitioners sent repeated emails to the
concerned oﬃcials of the Respondent No.1 inter alia stating that the
rd
subject Tender was not visible to them. Subsequently, on 23 and
th
24 October 2026, the Petitioners attempted to access and
download the Tender document but were unable to do so.
11. In such backdrop, the Petitioners instituted the present Writ
th
Petition on 25 October 2026. The grievance of the Petitioners
stems from their inability to access the subject Tender. In view
thereof, directions are sought from this Court, permitting the
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Petitioners to access the subject Tender and to participate in the
bidding process.
II. Rival Contentions:
A. Submissions on behalf of the Petitioners:
12. The case of the Petitioners as canvased by Mr. Janak
Dwarkadas, learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioners in essence
would be thus:
13. Mr. Dwarkadas has strenuously urged that the
prerequisite/precondition of the bidder being registered with the
IEMS as a registered vendor is nowhere stipulated much less stated
in the Tender document. In view thereof, the subject Tender
becomes susceptible/vulnerable on the ground that its terms and
conditions are vague and/or uncertain. Consequently, it is virtually
impossible for anyone to comprehend what is expected from it as a
prospective bidder. On this ground alone, the subject Tender ﬂoated
by the Respondents is bad in law & therefore, illegal.
14. Mr. Dwarkadas would contend that there is nothing in the
Tender document nor in the Bidder Manual to indicate that this is a
limited Tender restricted to pre-registered Ethanol vendors on the
IEMS portal. He would thus urge that the Respondents cannot be
allowed to introduce such a restriction subsequently, after the
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Tender has been issued.
15. According to Mr. Dwarkadas, Annexure XI of the Tender
document which refers to “General Instructions to vendors for e-
tendering”, permits the Petitioners to proceed with the registration
on the e-tender site in a particular manner as contemplated
therein. Accordingly, the Petitioners followed all the steps as set out
in the said Annexure. In this regard, he would place due reliance an
nd
email dated 22 October 2026 (page 226 of the Petition). This, to
urge that the Petitioner’s request for registration on the BPCL E-
tendering portal has been already accepted and therefore, the
Petitioner-Company is duly registered. However, despite the same,
the Petitioners were disqualiﬁed from the subject Tender without
any fault being attributed to them.
16. Mr. Dwarkadas would contend that despite repeated emails
and a telephonic request addressed to the contact person identiﬁed
in the Tender document, no clariﬁcation or response was received
from the Respondents. He would submit that the subject Tender
continued to remain inaccessible to the Petitioners, without any
reason for such exclusion being communicated to them. Thus, even
on such count, the disqualiﬁcation of the Petitioners is completely
arbitrary and illegal.
17. Mr. Dwarkadas would then refer to Annexure-VII of the Tender
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document which deals with “Integrated Ethanol Management System
(IEMS) – Vendor Activities and Obligations” , which is relied upon by
th
the Respondents through their Aﬃdavit-In-Reply dated 28 October
2026. His primary contention in this regard is that the said
Annexure uses the expression “registered supplier” and not a
“registered bidder”. According to him, these are 2 diﬀerent/distinct
categories in respect of which there is no overlap in the Tender
document. In view thereof, the training sessions would be in stricto
sensu applicable to the registered suppliers at the IEMS and not to
registered bidders. Thus, according to Mr. Dwarkadas, based on the
bare reading of the Annexure VII, no person will ever interpret it to
infer that registration with IEMS for the purpose of supply of the
said Ethanol to OMCs is a mandatory requirement for participation
as a bidder in the subject Tender.
18. Mr. Dwarkadas has further submitted that the EOI on which
much reliance is placed by the Respondents is nowhere referred to
Tender document. Accordingly, even if the said EOI has set out
certain pre-requisites and/or requirements, the same would not be
applicable, in the given case in the absence of it being translated
into the actual Tender document.
19. Mr. Dwarkadas in support of his submissions has placed due
reliance on the decision of the Supreme Court in Reliance Energy.
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Ltd. And Anr. Vs. Maharashtra State Road Development
1
Corporation Ltd. This, to submit that terms and conditions of a
Tender must indicate the norms and benchmarks with legal
certainty. If there is vagueness or subjectivity in the said norms, it
may result in unequal and discriminatory treatment, thereby
violating the doctrine of “level playing ﬁeld”. Moreover, the Supreme
Court has held that “opportunity” is also a part of right to life under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India. This is being arbitrarily
denied to the Petitioners, which calls for intervention by this Court.
20. Mr. Dwarkadas would also rely on the decision of the Supreme
Maha Mineral Mining & Beneﬁcation Pvt. Ltd. Vs.
Court in
2
Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Co. Ltd. to submit that prior
qualiﬁcation requirements must be spelt out clearly in the Tender
document, in the absence of which, non-compliance with same
cannot be made a ground for disqualiﬁcation of such bidder.
21. Mr. Dwarkadas would submit that the Petitioners have
invested approximately Rs. 250 crore in establishing a plant for
ethanol production and have obtained the requisite licences and
certiﬁcations. Therefore, at this stage, their exclusion from
participating in the subject Tender would cause substantial
prejudice to the company and its employees.
1
(2007) 8 SCC 1
2
2025 SCC OnLine 1942.
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22. In light of the above, he would urge that the Petition be
allowed and Rule be made absolute.
B. Submissions on behalf of the Respondents:
23. Mr. Navroz Seervai along with Mr. Mustafa Doctor, learned
senior counsel for the Respondents have vehemently opposed the
instant Petition. They have sought to place due reliance on the
th
Aﬃdavit-in-Reply dated 28 October 2026 ﬁled on behalf of the
Respondent No.1-BPCL during the course of arguments.
24. The principal objection raised by Mr. Seervai is that the
participation in the subject Tender was conﬁned to vendors who
had already been registered and approved by the OMCs for the
supply of Ethanol. The eligible vendors were identiﬁed from the
vendor master maintained on the IEMS, a software platform
developed by the OMCs for managing the procurement and logistics
of Ethanol.
25. Mr. Seervai would contend that the Petitioners have conﬂated
the registration on the general e-tendering portal with registration
as an approved ethanol vendor on IEMS. According to him, the
former is merely a preliminary step enabling an applicant only to
initiate the registration process, whereas the latter requires a
separate application, scrutiny of the prescribed documents and
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approval by the OMCs.
26. In support of the above submission, Mr. Seervai would also
th
place reliance on another Aﬃdavit dated 29 October 2026 ﬁled on
behalf of the Respondent No. 1, wherein it has been categorically
stated that the subject Tender will only be open to 519 entities
which are registered under the IMES portal as vendors for supply of
denatured anhydrous ethanol to OMCs, prior to ﬂoating of the
subject Tender. Therefore, according to him, since the Petitioner-
Company is admittedly not registered through IEMS, it is not
entitled to participate in the subject Tender.
nd
27. Mr. Seervai would submit that the email dated 22 October
2026 relied upon by the Petitioners merely conﬁrms registration on
the general e-tendering portal and does not establish that the
Petitioner-Comany had been registered and approved as an ethanol
th
vendor before the said Tender was issued on 16 October 2026.
28. Mr. Seervai would then submit that the procedure for
obtaining registration on IEMS is set out in Annexure VII along with
Annexure VIII of the Tender document. According to him, an
applicant acquires the status of a registered Ethanol vendor only
upon completion of the prescribed process and approval by the
OMCs. In this regard, he would also refer to the expression
“Registered Vendor” as deﬁned in the Tender document to mean a
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legal entity registered with the OMCs for the supply of said Ethanol.
th
29. Mr. Seervai would place reliance on EOI published on 13
January 2025, inviting applications from prospective vendors for
enrolment for the supply of said Ethanol to OMC locations for the
st
period ending on 31 October 2027. He would contend that the
enrolment process through such EOI ordinarily remained open
throughout the year, except during the period when the bidding
window for a quantity bid Tender was open. In view thereof, since
the Petitioners had not obtained registration and approval as an
ethanol vendor on IEMS before the issuance of the subject Tender,
it did not form part of the vendor master from which eligible bidders
were identiﬁed by the Respondents.
30. Mr. Seervai would contend that the submission advanced on
behalf of the Petitioners that the said EOI (supra) ﬁnds no reference
in the Tender document is factually incorrect. In this regard, he
would place reliance on clause ‘B’ of Annexure VIII of the Tender
document, which speciﬁcally stipulates that the terms and
conditions of the said EOI (supra) will be applicable for the subject
Tender.
31. Mr. Seervai would urge that the Petitioner’s registration on
nd
the general e-tendering portal on 22 October 2026 also occurred
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much after the issuance of the subject Tender on 16 October
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2026. Therefore, such subsequent registration cannot
retrospectively confer eligibility to participate in a limited Tender,
without being registered as an Ethanol Vendor on the IEMS portal.
32. Mr. Seervai would urge that the authority that issued/ﬂoated
the Tender is best placed to understand and interpret its
conditions. In view thereof, the writ court should refrain itself from
imposing its decision over the decision of the employer, as to
whether or not to accept the bid of tenderer. In support of these
submissions, Mr. Seervai has relied upon the decision of the
Supreme Court in N.G. Projects Ltd. Vs. Vinod Kumar Jain and
3
Ors
. He would further rely upon the decision of a Co-ordinate
Bench of this Court in Jaiprakash Industries Ltd. and Anr. Vs.
4
State of Maharashtra and Ors. to submit that the Tender
authorities cannot be faulted for having, for all purposes and all
participants, insisted on adherence to the terms of the Tender.
This, in the present case, includes mandatory requirement of pre-
registration on the IEMS portal, in consonance of the object with
which subject Tender is ﬂoated.
33. In light of the above submissions, Mr. Seervai would urge that
the Petition is devoid of merit and ought to be Dismissed.
3
(2022) 6 SCC 127
4
th
Writ Petition No. 3663 of 2001, decided on 28 September 2001.
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III. Analysis & Conclusion:
34. At the very outset, the Petitioners before us, have approached
this Court for a limited relief to permit the Petitioner-Company to
participate in subject Tender ﬂoated by the Respondent No.1 on
th
16 October 2026. In such context, this Court is called upon to
examine whether the Petitioner-Company is at all eligible/entitled
to participate in such tender process. This, more particularly in
light of the case of the Respondents being that the Petitioner-
Company is not registered as Ethanol Vendor on the IEMS portal
for supply to OMCs, which is the threshold requirement/pre-
requisite for participation in the subject Tender. The gravamen of
this proceeding lies in such determination.
35. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties, and with
their assistance, perused the record. The Respondents had taken
liberty to submit a short additional Aﬃdavit, which was duly
th
tendered to this Court on 29 October 2026. Also, the Petitioners
th
have tendered a copy of the Aﬃdavit-In-Rejoinder dated 28 October
th
2026, after the matter was reserved for judgment on 29 October
th
2026. Apart from the Aﬃdavit-In-Reply dated 28 October 2026,
ﬁled on behalf of the Respondent No.1, the aforementioned
pleadings are duly taken cognizance of in our judgment.
36. As we proceed to examine the issue/s before us, at ﬁrst, it is
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necessary to refer to the deﬁnition of “Vendor/Registered Vendor”
under the Deﬁnitions and Abbreviations as set out in the Tender
document. The same reads thus:
“DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
…
Vendor/Registered Vendor : Any legal entity registered
with OMCs for the supply of Ethanol. ”
37. Other important deﬁnitions from the Tender document would
be that of the expression “Bidder” and “Successful Bidder” which
reads thus:
“DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
…
Bidder : A Vendor that participates in this Quantity Bid Tender
by submitting an oﬀer in accordance with the Tender conditions.
Successful Bidder : A Bidder whose oﬀered quantity is accepted,
in full or in part, and to whom an allocation is made pursuant to
this Tender.
”
38. A perusal of the above would clearly indicate that in order to
qualify as a bidder, the person ought to be a Vendor. For such
purpose, the Vendor ought to be any legal entity ‘registered’ with
the OMCs for supply of Ethanol. In other words, an entity who is
not a “Vendor/Registered Vendor”, does not fulﬁll the criteria of the
“Bidder” as deﬁned under the Tender document. Moreover,
“Successful Bidder” is one whose oﬀered quantity is accepted in full
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or in part and to whom an allocation is made pursuant to Tender.
As far as the Petitioner-Company is concerned, the stage of it being
a “Successful Bidder” would never arise, considering the fact that it
does not meet the threshold requirement/criteria of a
supra
“Vendor/Registered Vendor” as deﬁned ( ) for the purposes of
bidding or being classiﬁed as a “Bidder” under the subject Tender
document.
39. In addition to the above, a careful perusal of the Tender
document, would reveal that the pre-requisite of prior registration
with the IEMS portal for supply of said Ethanol to the OMCs is also
contemplated in Annexure – VII which refers to “IEMS – Vendor
Activities and Obligations” . This is to be read with Annexure – VIII –
“Other Terms and Conditions of this Tender” . Clause B of Annexure
– VIII reads thus :-
ANNEXURE-VIII: OTHER TERMS & CONDITIONS OF “
THIS TENDER
….
B. APPLICABILITY OF VENDOR REGISTRATION EOI
TERMSAND CONDITIONS
Term(s) or condition(s) of the applicable “EOI for Enrolling
bidders for Long Term Arrangement of Supply of Denatured
Anhydrous Ethanol to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)
locations for the period till 30.11.2025”; and/or “EOI for
Enrolling bidders for Long Term Arrangement of Supply of
Denatured Anhydrous Ethanol to Oil Marketing Companies
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(OMCs) locations for the period till 31.08.2026”; and /or
“EOI for Enrolling bidders for Long Term Arrangement of
Supply of Denatured Anhydrous Ethanol to Oil Marketing
Companies (OMCs) locations for the period till 31.10.2027”
will be applicable….”
40. A perusal of the above would indicate that there is a
categorical reference to the EOI, in the aforementioned clause of
Annexure – VIII. In view thereof, the submission of the Petitioners
through Mr. Dwarkadas that the attempt made by the Respondents
to import additional condition of enrollment as per the EOI issued
in January 2025 is an ‘afterthought’, falls short of persuading us,
as it is not supported by the Tender document/record.
41. Referring to Annexure VII of the Tender Document, Mr.
Dwarkadas has sought to draw a distinction between “Bidders”,
“Existing Suppliers” and “New Registered Suppliers” in the context
of training sessions for IEMS, which is not made applicable to the
“Bidders”. Such submission is misconstrued as the expression
“Supplier” is, inter alia deﬁned as a Successful Bidder who at
primarily has to be a “Bidder” under the subject Tender. Further,
the expression “Bidder” takes into its fold a “Vendor/Registered
Vendor”, as deﬁned under the Tender Document, as discussed
above. In view thereof, such submission of Mr. Dwarkadas does not
cut ice in favour of the Petitioners nor does it assist the case of the
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Petitioners, on the basis of the purport, intent and language used in
the Tender document.
42. Mr. Dwarkadas was at pains to submit that the subject
Tender is not a limited Tender. To the contrary, the document
tendered by him at the Bar being ‘Notice Inviting Tender’ which
appears to be a screenshot of the website, refers to the subject
th
Tender published on 16 October 2026 as a “Limited Tender”. This
is to mean that it is not open to all persons but would be restricted
to certain vendors/registered vendors as deﬁned in the Tender
document (supra), meeting the qualiﬁcation criteria prescribed
therein. We, therefore, cannot subscribe to the submission of
Mr. Dwarkadas, in this regard.
43. This Court put a speciﬁc query to Mr. Seervai, learned senior
counsel for the Respondents to clarify whether all parties/entities
which have participated in subject Tender are duly registered as
Ethanol vendors on the IEMS portal. To this, a clariﬁcatory Aﬃdavit
th
dated 29 October 2026 has been ﬁled on behalf of the Respondent
No.1. It categorically states that the subject Tender will only be
open to the 519 parties/entities registered on IEMS portal as
vendors for supply of the said Ethanol to OMCs, prior to the ﬂoating
of the subject Tender. It is further clariﬁed that no bids of entities
other than the 519 entities duly registered on the IEMS portal will
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be accepted, even after the extension of time of submission of bids,
th st
until 5 November 2026, from the earlier date of 1 November
2026. This is an uncontroverted factual position.
44. Mr. Dwarkadas had led much emphasis on Annexure – XI of
the Tender document which refers to “General Instructions to
Vendors, for E-Tendering” . This, to submit that the Petitioners have
duly followed the procedure as stipulated under the said
Annexure/general instructions. He would connect this with the
nd
email dated 22 October 2026 at 12.00 hrs received from the
Respondent No.1, addressed to the Petitioners. For the sake of
completeness, the email is reproduced as under:
nd
“22 October 2026 at 12.00PM
BPCL E-tendering portal Online Enrollment
Dear [email protected] ,
Your request for registration in BPCL E-tendering portal has
been accepted. For further process, kindly go through the
“Bidders Help Manual Kit” available in the home page of the
portal.
Above e-tender has been published for you by BPCL on the
e-procurement site that https://bpcltenders.eproc.in .
You can View & Respond to tender by accessing and login to
the site.
Please note, to carry out any transaction on the website it is
mandatory to have a Valid Digital certiﬁcate/Digital
signature.
All the details like browser settings, viewing tender,
submitting the bid on-line bid etc. are mentioned in the
[Instruction to bidders] hosted at https://bpcltenders.eproc.in
The [System Requirement] can be accessed on home page
under download section [click on Manual link] for Bidding
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Manual for e-tenders.
Please note that this is e-tender and response/bid is to be
submitted only on https://bpcltenders.eproc.in . Any other
mode shall not be considered.
Please get in touch with the helpdesk team if you require any
assistance. Numbers are available on the home page under
Contact list link.
Please email your issues on [email protected]
before you call helpdesk. This will help us serving you
better.
Regards,
C1 India Support Team”
45. A bare perusal of the above email which is to be read in
totality, would clearly indicate the following:
a) The email speciﬁcally records that the above E-Tender
has been published by the Respondent No.1-BPCL on the E-
Procurement site as noted therein.
b) The email records that this E-Tender and Response/Bid
is to be submitted only on the website of E-Procurement and
any other mode shall not be considered.
46. Apropos the above, the record bears out that the Petitioners
attempted to follow the prescribed procedure for registration on the
E-Procurement website, as also stated in the above email. It was at
this stage that the Petitioners could not move further from Step 4
“Click on Action Button To Participate in Tender (Tender
i.e.
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Consolidated View)” to Step 5 i.e. “Download Tender Document-Click
on the Icon”, which steps are envisaged under the Bidders Manual.
The Petitioners admittedly ‘got stuck’ at Step 4 and could not
download the Tender document at Step 5.
47. At this juncture, it is necessary to clarify that the registration
which Mr. Dwarkadas refers to and the prior registration with IEMS
portal are distinct, diﬀerent and are not the same/similar, neither
can the same be construed interchangeably. The E-Procurement
platform is a common platform utilized by the Respondent No.1 for
procurement of various goods and services. On a perusal thereof, it
is clear that it is not speciﬁc to the procurement of Ethanol. In this
context, the above email merely conﬁrms registration on the E-
Procurement portal managed by CI India Software on behalf of
Respondent No.1-BPCL, which is the initial/preliminary step in the
registration process, as set out in the Tender document. Mere
registration on the E-Procurement portal, which is general in
nature, cannot be misconstrued or misunderstood as approval by
the OMCs on IEMS, as the same does not confer registration as an
Ethanol Vendor with IEMS, a requisite precursor, for qualifying in
the subject Tender and moving forward thereafter.
48. The record bears out that even on a plain interpretation of the
Tender document, it becomes evident that the general registration
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on the E-Procurement portal as claimed by the Petitioners to create
rights in their favour does not obviate the pre-requisite/threshold
requirement of registration on the IEMS portal for supply of the said
Ethanol to OMCs, in terms of the subject Tender document. It is for
such reason that the Petitioner-Company not being
Vendor/Registered Vendor as categorically deﬁned/stipulated in the
Tender document (supra) , was unable to download the Tender
document at Step 5 and failed to proceed further from Step 4. There
is no other reason coming out from the record, for the registration
of the Petitioner-Company, not going through further after Step 5
(supra) .
49. We have also noted the submission of Mr. Dwarkadas to the
eﬀect that there have been repeated emails and telephonic request
from the Petitioners, with no response from the Respondents. Also,
the Petitioners became aware about the requirement of registration
th
with IEMS for the ﬁrst time from the Aﬃdavit-in-Reply dated 28
October 2026 ﬁled on behalf of the Respondent No.1 in this
proceeding. This submission cannot be accepted. This for the
reason that the Tender Document as elaborately narrated above
contemplates registration with the IEMS for supply of the said
Ethanol to the OMCs as a pre-requisite for participation in the
subject Tender. Moreover, taking refuge under certain subsequent
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emails addressed by the Petitioners would pale into insigniﬁcance
as, in the given case, the Petitioners have failed to meet the very
threshold requirement of registration with the IEMS, for proceeding
further in the subject Tender.
50. Mr. Dwarkadas is at pains to point out that the Petitioners
have invested about Rs. 250 Crores in establishing an Ethanol
production plant and have obtained requisite
permissions/certiﬁcations. We do not see how and in what manner
this would assist the case of the Petitioners. They have failed to
meet the threshold requirement of registration with IEMS for supply
of said Ethanol to OMCs which is the starting point for
participation in the subject Tender. This Court, therefore, cannot go
beyond the terms and conditions of the Tender document.
51. Mr. Dwarkadas has laid much stress to submit that the
Tender document suﬀers from vagueness/uncertainty and
therefore, does not make the conditions clear to an
Applicant/Bidder. In this regard, it is to be noted that 519
parties/entities have duly registered on the IEMS portal as vendors
for supply of said Ethanol to the OMCs, prior to ﬂoating of the
subject Tender. The Petitioners are certainly not novice in such
specialized and sophisticated business. In the given facts and
circumstances, this Court is unable to countenance a situation
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where only one entity i.e. the Petitioner-Company should be allowed
to participate in the subject Tender despite not meeting the
threshold criteria for qualiﬁcation in the subject Tender being prior
registration with the IEMS. In such situation, this Court is not
persuaded by the contention urged by Mr. Dwarakadas that the
Tender conditions are uncertain and/or vague.
52. We may now advert to the Judgments cited by Mr. Dwarkadas
in Reliance Energy Limited (supra) and Maha Mineral Minning
(supra) . Taking the ﬁrst judgment cited by Mr. Dwarkadas and
applying it on given facts, here is a case where the subject Tender
in its present form has in fact provided a level playing ﬁeld to its
participants. Accordingly, 519 tenderers have applied who were
qualiﬁed to participate in the Tender process after meeting the
threshold criteria of registration with the IEMS for supplying the
said Ethanol to the OMCs, as stipulated in the Tender document.
Accepting the submission of Mr. Dwarkadas on this score would
militate against the doctrine of level playing ﬁeld and in fact render
such mandatory pre-requisite of prior registration with the IEMS, in
the Tender document, redundant.
53. There cannot be any quarrel with the principle laid down in
the said decision that “opportunity” is a part of right to life under
Article 21 of Constitution of India. The Petitioners in the given facts
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had adequate and reasonable opportunity to enroll as a registered
th
Vendor with the IEMS post 13 January 2025 when the EOI was
th
published, up to 16 October 2026 when the Tender was ﬂoated.
The Petitioners failed to avail of such opportunity due to non-
compliance of threshold requirement, as per the Tender document
which led to their ineligibility and consequent non-participation in
the subject Tender. In view thereof, the decision of the Supreme
Court in Reliance Energy Limited (supra) is of no assistance to
the Petitioners in the given factual complexion.
54. Similarly, the decision relied on by Mr. Dwarkadas in Maha
Mineral Mining
(supra) is also perused. This is cited on behalf of
the Petitioners for the reason that the conditions of a Tender
document must be clear and ambiguous. Applying the
ratio/reasoning of the said decision in the given facts is of no
assistance to the Petitioners in as much as the requirement of pre-
registration with the IEMS is very much embedded in the Tender
document, which is made uniformly applicable, to all the
participants, sans exception.
55. Moreover, right up to the Rejoinder ﬁled in Court and argued
at the Bar, the Petitioners have not pleaded any case of mala ﬁdes
against the Respondents. In view thereof, we are unable to accept
the submission of Mr. Dwarkadas that vagueness or subjectivity or
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uncertainty in the Tender terms may result in unequal or
discriminatory treatment. In fact in the event if the Petitioners are
allowed to participate in the subject Tender, that would lead to
discrimination qua other 519 participants who have duly met the
threshold criteria of being registered as an Ethanol Vendor with
IEMS, so as to participate in the subject Tender. Such approach
would be in the teeth of Article 14 qua the other 519 participants,
which the Writ Court, in the given factual backdrop cannot permit.
56. We would now advert to the decisions cited by Mr. Seervai in
N.G. Projects Ltd. (supra) and Jaiprakash Industries Ltd.
(supra).
More particularly, in paragraph 22 of the decision in the
case of N.G. Projects Ltd. (supra), the Supreme Court dealt with a
situation of 15 bidders out of which, bids of 13 tenderers could not
satisfy the tender conditions, the Petitioner therein, being one of
them. Even in that case, the plea of mala ﬁdes and/or extraneous
condition was not taken. Similar is the fact situation in the given
case. In view thereof, the Writ Court ought to refrain itself from
imposing its decision over the decision of the employer as to
whether or not to accept the bid of a tenderer. The Court lacks
expertise to examine the terms and conditions of present day
economic activities of the State, which limitation should be kept in
mind, in larger public interest. We are duly directed by such
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principles.
57. Mr. Dwarkadas has attempted to distinguish the said
decisions cited by Mr. Seervai as clearly being not applicable.
However, we do not ﬁnd much merit in the distinction sought to be
made out. The principles of law, dovetailed with the facts set out in
the judgments cited by Mr. Seervai, are both apposite and
applicable in the given factual complexion.
58. In our view, to lend more clarity on the legal nuances, it is
both necessary and expedient to refer to decisions of Supreme
Court in Agmatel India Private Limited vs. Resoursys Telecom
5
and Ors and Galaxy Transport Agencies vs. New J. K.
6
Roadways, Fleet Owners & Transport Contractors
. The
statement of law laid down in the said decisions is that the author
of the Tender document is the best person to understand and
appreciate its requirements, and thus, its interpretation should not
be second guessed by a Court in a judicial review proceedings. A
similar view has been taken by this very Bench in the recent
decision in M/s. Vidya Caterers Vs. Bharat Petroleum
7
Corporation Ltd. & Ors. This to the eﬀect that the Courts would
exercise restraint in such matters. Even if the interpretation given
5
(2022) 5 SCC 362
6
(2016) 16 SCC 818
7 th
Writ Petition (L) No.29700 of 2026, decided on 9 October 2026
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to the Tender document is not as such acceptable to the Writ Court,
that by itself would not be a reason for interfering with the
interpretation given by the author of the given Tender particularly
when it cannot be faulted on the ground of vagueness or
uncertainty. We are not inclined to deviate therefrom.
59. In light of the above, the Writ Petition makes out no ground
for interference by this Court and is Dismissed. Rule is Discharged.
No Costs.
60. All concerned to act on an authenticated copy of this
Judgment and Order.
[ADVAIT M. SETHNA, J.] [CHIEF JUSTICE]
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