When Can Writ Courts Interfere In Contract Matters? SC Explains [Read Judgment]

In a judgment delivered in June, the Supreme Court explained the scope of powers of High Courts under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to interfere in contractual matters. The bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Surya Kant, also held that, in all cases challenging the decision of the tendering authority, all the eligible tenderers need not be made parties. (The Silppi Constructions Contractors vs. Union of India). The bench disagreed with such an observation of the High Court of Kerala and said: We do not think such a broad proposition could be laid down as an inflexible rule of law. Supposing the tender documents are not sold/delivered to a party wanting to submit a tender, in such a case the other tenderers would not be necessary parties. In the present case the petitioner was only challenging the rejection of its technical bid. At this stage the other tenderers were not necessary parties. The position may be otherwise if a tenderer challenges a bid awarded to another or challenges the rejection of his bid at a later stage. In our view the writ petition was maintainable even in the absence of other tenderers because till that stage there was no successful tenderer. Who are the necessary parties will depend upon the facts of each case. Writ Jurisdiction and Contractual Matters The bench, also, scanned through various earlier judgments in this matter, and observed that there is a need to exercise restraint and caution while interfering in matters of contract involving the state instrumentalities. The essence of the law laid down in the judgments referred to above is the exercise of restraint and caution; the need for overwhelming public interest to justify judicial intervention in matters of contract involving the state instrumentalities; the courts should give way to the opinion of the experts unless the decision is totally arbitrary or unreasonable; the court does not sit like a court of appeal over the appropriate authority; the court must realise that the authority floating the tender is the best judge of its requirements and, therefore, the court's interference should be minimal. The authority which floats the contract or tender, and has authored the tender documents is the best judge as to how the documents have to be interpreted. If two interpretations are possible then the interpretation of the author must be accepted. The courts will only interfere to prevent arbitrariness, irrationality, bias, malafides or perversity. The Court further observed: This Court being the guardian of fundamental rights is duty bound to interfere when there is arbitrariness, irrationality, malafides and bias. However, this Court in all the aforesaid decisions has cautioned time and again that courts should exercise a lot of restraint while exercising their powers of judicial review in contractual or commercial matters. This Court is normally loathe to interfere in contractual matters unless a clear-cut case of arbitrariness or malafides or bias or irrationality is made out. One must remember that today many public sector undertakings compete with the private industry. The contracts entered into between private parties are not subject to scrutiny under writ jurisdiction. No doubt, the bodies which are State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution are bound to act fairly and are amenable to the writ jurisdiction of superior courts but this discretionary power must be exercised with a great deal of restraint and caution. The Courts must realise their limitations and the havoc which needless interference in commercial matters can cause. In contracts involving technical issues the courts should be even more reluctant because most of us in judges' robes do not have the necessary expertise to adjudicate upon technical issues beyond our domain. As laid down in the judgments cited above the courts should not use a magnifying glass while scanning the tenders and make every small mistake appear like a big blunder. In fact, the courts must give "fair play in the joints" to the government and public sector undertakings in matters of contract. Courts must also not interfere where such interference will cause unnecessary loss to the public exchequer. Supreme Court Judgments Superior courts should not interfere in matters of tenders unless substantial public interest was involved or the transaction was mala fide. (Raunaq International Ltd. vs. I.V.R. Construction Ltd.)There should be overwhelming public interest to justify judicial intervention in contracts involving the State and its instrumentalities. It was held that Courts must proceed with great caution while exercising their discretionary powers and should exercise these powers only in furtherance of public interest and not merely on making out a legal point (Air India Limited vs. Cochin International Airport Ltd.)While exercising power of judicial review in...

When Can Writ Courts Interfere In Contract Matters? SC Explains [Read Judgment]

Ashok Kini

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