Delhi High Court Upholds Bidder's Disqualification From Sri Lanka Consular Services Tender, Cites Lack Of Independent Experience

The Delhi High Court has upheld the disqualification of a bidder from a tender process for outsourcing consular, passport and visa (CPV) services in Sri Lanka, holding that the bidder failed to demonstrate the requisite independent contractual experience as mandated under the tender conditions.A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora dismissed a writ petition filed by International Visa Services Pvt. Ltd. (formerly IVS Lanka Pvt. Ltd.), which had challenged its disqualification from the Request for Proposal (RFP) dated November 27, 2025.The petitioner had participated in the tender floated by the Union of India for outsourcing CPV services in Sri Lanka. Its bid was rejected on the ground that it did not meet the Mandatory Eligibility Criteria (MEC) requiring at least three years' experience in operating CPV centres.Petitioner contended that although the original 2013 agreement for providing such services was executed between the Government and IVS Global Services Pvt. Ltd., it was the petitioner who actually carried out on-ground operations in Sri Lanka for over a decade and should therefore be allowed to rely on that experience.Rejecting the contention, the Court held that experience must vest in the bidding entity itself, and cannot be derived from another legal entity in the absence of assignment or novation of the contract.“...The requisite experience claimed by the bidder must vest in it as the contracting party and cannot be derived as an agent of a separate legal entity (IVS Global) which supervised its operations…In these circumstances, the Respondent's categorical refusal to recognise IVS Lanka/Petitioner as the contracting party of the 2013 Agreement is consistent with settled legal principles and does not warrant interference in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226,” it said.Petitioner had relied on a similar arrangement in the UAE, where a local entity had been recognised for contractual purposes. However, the Court distinguished the case, noting that in the UAE there had been a formal assignment/ novation of the contract, which was absent in the present case.Finally holding that no mala fides, illegality, irrationality, or arbitrariness was made out, the Court refused to interfere and dismissed the petition.Appearance: For the Petitioner : Mr. Samar Bansal, Mr. Siddharth Nath, Mr. Asjad Hussain and Mr. Anunay Chowdhary, Advs. For the Respondent : Mr. Shashank Dixit, CGSC, Mr. Arnav Mittal, GP and Mr. Kunal Raj, Adv.Case title: International Visa Services Pvt Ltd Formerly Known As Ivs Lanka Pvt Ltd v. UoICitation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 326Case no.: W.P.(C) 5/2026 Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Upholds Bidder's Disqualification From Sri Lanka Consular Services Tender, Cites Lack Of Independent Experience

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