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Madras High Court· 07 September 2026

Does a tender clause providing for obtaining missing documents oblige the tender inviting authority to call for a mandatory document the bidder never mentioned?

N.Nattathy v. Tender Inviting Authority / The Managing Director
WA(MD).952/2026 · 2026:MHC:3632 · W.A.(MD)No.952 of 2026
Coram: Justice C.V.Karthikeyan · Justice R.Sakthivel
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Answer

No. The clause applies only where a particular document had been mentioned in the list of documents while uploading tender papers and had not been uploaded — that document alone could subsequently be uploaded by following the procedure. The clause does not give leverage to call upon a participant to upload the documents which are required to be uploaded, and there was certainly no obligation on the first respondent to go and advise every participant to upload documents which are mandatory in nature.

Headnote

Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act, 1998 — s.11 — Tender — Eligibility criteria — Rejection at the technical stage — Missing documents clause — Judicial review of tenders — Tender — Eligibility criteria — Mandatory, not relaxable — Held: An eligibility criteria prescribed in a tender is mandatory and can never be relaxed, since any relaxation would cause injustice to those who would have participated had they known that the eligibility criteria was flexible in nature. (¶36, 39) Tender document — Uploading in a particular manner — No relaxation — Held further: Where a tender document has to be uploaded in a particular manner, it should be uploaded only in that particular manner or not at all; non-submission of the income tax returns required for the preceding three financial years is fatal. (¶46, 47, 55) Tender — Clause for obtaining missing documents — Scope — Held further: A clause permitting missing documents to be called for applies only where a document mentioned in the list was not uploaded; it places no obligation on the tender inviting authority to advise a participant to upload documents which are mandatory in nature. (¶55) Judicial review of tenders — No equity in commercial matters — Held further: There can be no equity in commercial matters, and it is not for a participant to dictate how the bids are to be evaluated and examined; the rejection at the technical stage cannot be faulted. Writ Appeals dismissed. (¶48, 56, 57)

Headnote

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In the Court's own words
Paragraph 55This clause had been misread by the appellant. If, while uploading tender papers, there had been mention about a particular document and the same had not been uploaded, then that document which had been mentioned in the list of documents and not uploaded, alone could be subsequently uploaded by following the procedure under Clause-8. This clause does not give leverage to the first respondent to call upon a participant in the tender to upload the documents which are required to be uploaded. The fact that the document was in the possession of the participant to the tender process would be a fact known only to such participant. There was certainly no obligation placed for the first respondent to go and advise every participant to upload documents which are mandatory in nature. The appellant can never expect a beneficial service from the first respondent. It is the duty of the appellant to upload every document which is required. If they had mentioned a particular document in the list and had not actually uploaded that particular document, then the first respondent could seek clarification and ask the appellant to upload that particular document, but not otherwise. We hold that failure to upload the income tax returns for the financial year 2024-25, and also the audited balance sheet and the profit and loss account is fatal and the tender submitted by the appellant had been correctly rejected.
Acts & Sections
s.11 Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act, 1998

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Also decided in this judgment
Can an eligibility criteria prescribed in a tender be relaxed where the participant falls short of the required experience by 39 days?Is the non-submission of an income tax return expressly required by a tender document fatal, where the document was available with the bidder but not uploaded?Can an unsuccessful bidder require a tender to be cancelled on the ground that only a single tenderer was left after his own bid was rejected?
Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Madras High Court. Corrections