In Brief
The Supreme Court quashed tender conditions issued by Chhattisgarh's Department of School Education that restricted eligibility to suppliers with prior experience supplying to the state. The Court held that requiring bidders to have supplied sports kits worth Rs. 6 crores cumulatively to state agencies in the preceding three years was arbitrary and violated Articles 14 and 19(1)(g). The restriction unlawfully excluded competent suppliers from other states and created artificial barriers to competition, promoting cartelization. The Court rejected the state's justification based on Maoist-affected geography, noting the tender concerned non-security-sensitive sports kits and applied uniformly to the entire state. The Court affirmed that public procurement must encourage wider participation to secure quality goods at best price, and ordered the state to reissue tenders without discriminatory conditions.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.