A Division Bench of the J&K and Ladakh High Court comprising Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Mohan Lal while hearing an Appeal against a Judgment of a Single Bench of the Court wherein the Petitioner had challenged the action of the Respondents/Government whereby out of all the seven bidders who had participated in the bidding, only the Private Respondent was declared ‘responsive’ and the contract was allotted to him. The Ld. Single Bench dismissed the said Petition in limine, which lead to the Appeal. The question that arose for consideration of the Hon’ble Division Bench was, “Whether a single responsive bid can be accepted, and contract awarded to such bidder, and if so, under what circumstances?”

The Division Bench, while upholding the judgment of the Writ Court, ruled that there is no bar or prohibition from accepting a single lowest tender provided the bid is responsive and not a burden on the public exchequer. The Court analyzed the CVC guidelines, as well as the general instructions on procurement and project management issued by the Department of Expenditure, Procurement Policy Division, Ministry of Finance, dated 29th Oct. 2021, and upon a cumulative consideration of both, it held that even in the case where a single bid is submitted, the same can be accepted, and tender allotted to him, provided, the following three conditions are fulfilled:

i. The procurement was satisfactorily advertised, and sufficient time was given for the submission of bids;

ii. the qualification criteria were not unduly restrictive; and

iii. prices are reasonable in comparison to market values.