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TMI Blog2023 (3) TMI 1524X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dders, sale of the tender document, holding of the pre-bid meeting followed by the entire process till opening of the financial bids is to be conducted at the Head Office at Mumbai. It is true that certain acts such as submission of E-Tender document and payment of amount in that regard are permitted to be done online. Merely because the petitioner who has its Office at Nagpur has downloaded the E-Tender document at Nagpur and thereafter sought to upload the E-Tender document from Nagpur, the same would not be sufficient to confer territorial jurisdiction at Nagpur in absence of any part of a cause of action having arisen here. The extension of time from 03.03.2023 to 09.03.2023 has occurred at the Head Office at Mumbai. Even the fact that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lenge raised in this writ petition is to the tender floated by the respondent in the matter of transportation of Raw Coal transportation against Road-cum-Rail (RCR) Allocation from Kusmunda/Gevra/Dipka mines of South East Coalfield Limited (SECL) to the Thermal Power Stations of the respondent. 2. A preliminary objection is raised by the learned counsel for the respondent that this Court lacks territorial jurisdiction to entertain the writ petition since no part of the cause of action has arisen within the territorial limits of the Nagpur Bench of this Court. Accordingly, the learned counsel for the parties have been heard on the aforesaid preliminary objection. 3. A brief reference to the E-Tender document is necessary. The aforesaid ETend ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... his submissions the learned counsel has relied upon the judgment of this Court in Writ Petition No. 5444 of 2021 [Balaji Ventures Pvt. Ltd. Versus Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd. Another] decided on 24.01.2022 as well as the judgment of the Hon ble Supreme Court in Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) Nos.1616 of 2022 and 1673 of 2022 that were filed for challenging the judgment of this Court dated 24.01.2022. Mere submission of online tender documents from Nagpur would thus not confer any territorial jurisdiction for the petitioner to invoke the writ jurisdiction at this Bench. It is thus submitted that since no part of cause of action arises at Nagpur, the writ petition need not deserve to be entertained on merits ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and had passed an interim order permitting the petitioner to submit its E-Tender document offline. The learned Senior Advocate placed reliance on the decisions in Shanti Devi Alias Shanti Mishra Versus Union of India Others [(2020) 10 SCC 766] and Alchemist Ltd. Another Versus State Bank of Sikkim Others [(2007) 11 SCC 335] in that regard. He also attempted to distinguish the judgment of this Court in Balaji Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (supra) to urge that the legal issues now raised were not raised when the aforesaid writ petition was heard. It was thus submitted that since a part of the cause of action had arisen within the territorial jurisdiction of the Nagpur Bench, the writ petition was liable to be entertained on merits. 6. Shri Akshay Naik, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to the terms of the notice inviting bids. The writ petition is totally silent on the aspect of even a part of cause of action arising within the territorial limits of the Nagpur Bench. The learned counsel for the applicant has rightly invited our attention to the recent decision of the Hon ble Supreme Court in The State of Goa (supra) wherein the aspect of importance of pleading facts to indicate the manner in which cause of action arises has been highlighted. In absence of any pleadings whatsoever in that regard, it would not be permissible for this Court to proceed merely on the assumption that since the petitioner has its Office at Nagpur, the same is sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction on the ground that a part of cause of action aro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Further, the petitioner is aggrieved by the extension of time for online submission of bids which is alleged to have been done to favour other bidders. The extension of time from 03.03.2023 to 09.03.2023 has occurred at the Head Office at Mumbai. Even the fact that the transportation of Raw Coal at some Thermal Power Stations situated within the territorial jurisdiction of this Bench is not a relevant factor at this pre-bid stage. The issue in question is of the extension of time for submission of bids which the petitioner alleges is contrary to the conditions of the notice inviting tender. As observed by this Court in Balaji Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (supra), it is only that fact which has a nexus or relevance with the lis that is involved that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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