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TMI Blog2016 (9) TMI 1292X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation unless it had come to a clear conclusion that the interpretation given by NMRCL was perverse or mala fide or intended to favour one of the bidders. This was certainly not the case either before the High Court or before this Court. Under the circumstances, we find merit in the appeals filed by the appellants and set aside the judgment and orders passed by the High Court and restore the decision of NMRCL to the effect that GYT-TPL JV was not eligible to bid for the contract under consideration. - CIVIL APPEAL NO. 9078 OF 2016 WITH C.A. NO. 9079 OF 2016 WITH C.A. NOS. 9080-9081 OF 2016 - - - Dated:- 15-9-2016 - LOKUR, MADAN B.AND AGRAWAL,R.K., JJ. J U D G M E N T Madan B. Lokur, J. 1. In Civil Appeal No. 9078 of 2016 and Civil Appeal No. 9079 of 2016 filed by Afcons Infrastructure Ltd., the challenge is to the judgment and orders dated 28th July, 2016 and 11th August, 2016 passed by the Bombay High Court. In Civil Appeal Nos. 9080-9081 of 2016filed by the Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., the challenge is to the judgment and orders dated 28th July, 2016 and 12th August, 2016 passed by the Bombay High Court. The combined effect of all the impugned orde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... owing words: The civil construction work completed by the petitioner [GYT-TPL JV] in terms of condition no. 4.2 (a) was for an intercity high speed railway project in China and in the said contract, the petitioner had completed a viaduct of 7.284 km length .The petitioner has admittedly constructed a viaduct of not less than 5 km for the prestigious Pearl River Delta Intercity high speed railway project in China. We find on a reading of the tender conditions and particularly clause 4.2(a) thereof that a contractor or a joint venture company is required to have the experience in Metro Civil Construction work and of completing a viaduct having a length of not less than 5 kms. We do not appreciate the submission on behalf of the respondent that since the petitioner had constructed the viaduct for a high speed railway project, the petitioner would not have the experience of constructing a viaduct for a metro. It is not disputed by the respondent that metro would mean a railway or an underground railway. If that be so, we fail to fathom as to why the technical bid of the petitioner was disqualified though the petitioner has constructed a viaduct for Pearl River Delta Intercity hig ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orks constructed for the purpose of, or in connection with, a metro railway; 8. In view of the extension of these two statutes to the city of Nagpur, there can be no doubt that the definition of metro railway or metro would apply to the tender conditions floated for the purposes of the metro rail project of NMRCL. 9. It is submitted before us that an inter-city rail is completely different from a metro rail. An inter-city rail is between two cities and the trains are usually high speed trains. A metro rail is intra-city, it has a dedicated right-of-way, normally it does not have high speed trains and the frequency of trains is much greater that of inter-city trains.1 A metro rail may extend, in some cases, to a suburb of a metropolitan city but it essentially remains an intra-city project. There is, therefore, a qualitative difference between an inter-city rail and a metro rail. By itself, this In Delhi the time duration is approximately to 2-3 minutes during peak hours and 5-10 minutes during off peak duration in the city. Source: http://www.delhicapital.com/delhi-metro/metro-train-timings.html indicates a qualitative difference in a railway project that is inter-city a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or arbitrariness, irrationality or perversity must be met before the constitutional Court interferes with the decision making process or the decision. 14. We must reiterate the words of caution that this Court has stated right from the time when Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. International Airport Authority of India (1979) 3 SCC 489 was decided almost 40 years ago, namely, that the words used in the tender documents cannot be ignored or treated as redundant or superfluous they must be given meaning and their necessary significance. In this context, the use of the word metro in Clause 4.2 (a) of Section III of the bid documents and its connotation in ordinary parlance cannot be overlooked. 15. We may add that the owner or the employer of a project, having authored the tender documents, is the best person to understand and appreciate its requirements and interpret its documents. The constitutional Courts must defer to this understanding and appreciation of the tender documents, unless there is mala fide or perversity in the understanding or appreciation or in the application of the terms of the tender conditions. It is possible that the owner or employer of a project may give a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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