JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH HIGH COURT: NO BINDING CONTRACT IN TENDER PARTICIPATION, PROCESS CANCELLABLE BEFORE ACCEPTANCE LETTER IS ISSUED

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in the case Ghulam Qadir Bhat and another V/s U.T of J&K and others observed and has ruled that merely by participating in the tender, no right is being created in favour of the bidder and the tenderer cannot be precluded from its option to cancel the tendering process on any grounds.

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The bench headed by Justice Sindhu Sharma in the case observed and has clarified that the tendering process, thus, can be cancelled at any stage before finalisation and issuance of a letter of acceptance as there was no concluded contract between the parties.

In the present case, the petitioners Ghulam Qadir Bhat and another challenged the cancellation of e-NITS (electronic-Notice Inviting Tenders) by the Chairman of the State Level Purchase Committee, Sheep Husbandry Department, Jammu and Kashmir.

The court issued the e-NITs for the supply of Livestock (Sheep/Goat) from states with similar agro-climatic conditions for the Integrated Sheep Development Scheme.