RATNAGIRI GAS & POWER PVT. LTD. versus RDS PROJECTS LTD. & ORS.

Citation: [2012] 9 S.C.R. 690 · Decided: 18-10-2012 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: T.S. THAKUR · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 3 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
[2012] 9 S.C.R. 690 
RATNAGIRI GAS & POWER PVT. LTD. 
v. 
RDS PROJECTS LTD. & ORS. 
(Civil Appeal No. 7593 o( 2012) 
OCTOBER 18, 2012 
rr.s. THAKUR AND GYAN SUDHA MISRA, JJ.) 
CONSTITUTION OF /NOIA, 1950: 
c 
Art. 226 - Second writ petition - Maintainability -
Breakwater contract - Successful bidder (respondent) 
subsequently found ineligible as it did not meet the basic 
qualifying conditions of offshore breakwater - Fresh tenders 
invited - Writ petition by respondent challenging annulment 
0 
of tender process and rejection of its bid - Dismissed as not 
pressed, with liberty to seek redress if respondent was 
excluded from consideration in fresh tender - Second writ 
petition involving the same issues as in earlier writ petition, 
as also challenging the fresh tender notice - Allowed by High 
E 
Court - Held: Liberty granted to file a fresh petition was limited 
to any such fresh challenge being laid by the respondent to 
its exclusion in terms of any fresh tender notice - The order 
passed by the High Court did not permit the respondent to 
re-open and re-agitate issues regarding rejection of its bid 
pursuant to the earlier tender notice and the annulment of the 
F 
entire tender process, even if the second tender notice sought 
to disqualify it from competition by altering the conditions of 
eligibility to its disadvantage - To that extent, the subsequent 
writ petition was not maintainable - There is no finding by the 
High Court on the eligibility of the respondent - The question 
G regarding eligibility of respondent cannot be resolved in the 
absence of any conclusive evidence, and in the absence of 
a specific finding from the High Court, on the question - Matter 
remanded to High Court for decision afresh in accordance 
H 
690 
RATNAGIRI GAS & POWER PVT. LTD. v. RDS 
691 
PROJECTS LTD. & ORS. 
with the directions given in the judgment - Contract -
A 
Administrative Law - Malice in law and malice in fact. 
ADMIN/STRA TIVE LAW: 
Malice in fact - Administrative action - Findings recorded 8 
by High Court as regards malafides - Held: The law casts a 
heavy burden on the person alleging ma/a tides to prove the 
same on the basis of facts that are either admitted or 
satisfactorily established and/or logical inferences deducible 
from the same - This is particularly so when the petitioner 
alleges malice in fact in which event it is obligatory for the C 
person making any such a/legation to furnish particulars that 
would prove ma/a tides on the part of the decision maker -
Vague and general allegations unsupported by requisite 
particulars do not provide a sound basis for the court to 
conduct an inquiry into their veracity - Further, as and when D 
allegations of ma/a tides are made, the persons against whom 
the same are levelled need to be imp/eaded as parties to the 
proceedings to enable them to answer the charge - In the case 
at hand, there was no a/legation of "malice in fact" against any 
individual, nor was any individual accused of bias, spite or E 
ulterior motive, impleaded as a party to the writ petition - High 
Court named the officers concerned and concluded that the 
integrity of the entire process was suspect, which was wholly 
unjustified in the circumstances of the case. 
F 
Malice in law - Held: If on an interpretation of a clause in 
the tender notice by the legal department concerned, the 
officers review their decision or reverse the recommendations 
· made earlier, the same does not tantamount to malice in law 
so as to affect the purity of the entire process or render it 
suspect even assuming that the opinion is on a more G 
thorough and seasoned consideration found to be wrong -
Nothing in the instant case was done without a reasonable or 
probable cause which is the very essence of the doctrine of 
malice in law vitiating administrative actions. 
H 
692 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2012] 9 S.C.R. 
A 
The appellant, a joint venture company of Gas 
Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) and National Thermal Power 
Corporation (NTPC), was entrusted the project of 
completing the balance work at LNG Terminal of Dabhol 
Power Project and of commissioning and operating the 
B same. The appellant engaged GAIL, as its engineer and 
the latter appointed Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) as their 
Project Management Consultant. EIL, in terms of 
international competitive bidding notice dated 26.6.2009 
invited tenders for completion of "Breakwater" at LNG 
c Terminal which had been left incomplete by a 

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