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TMI Blog2016 (9) TMI 1292X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o Rail Corporation Ltd., the challenge is to the judgment and orders dated 28th July, 2016 and 12th August, 2016 passed by the Bombay High Court. The combined effect of all the impugned orders is that the High Court held that M/s. Guangdong Yuantian Engineering Company (GYT) of China and M/s. TATA Projects Limited (TPL) as a Joint Venture (hereinafter referred to as the 'GYT-TPL JV') are eligible to bid for a tender invited by the Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (for short 'NMRCL') on 12th May, 2016. 2. Bids were invited by NMRCL for the design and construction of a viaduct in Reach-3 between Jhansi Rani Square and Lokmanya Nagar Stations from CH 7825M to CH 18212M on the East-West Corridor of Nagpur Metro Rail Project. 3. GYT-TPL J ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ore the High Court was whether the Pearl River Delta Intercity High Speed Railway Project met the requirement of a 'metro civil construction work'. According to NMRCL, an inter-city high speed railway project did not meet the requirements of a metro civil construction work. 6. The High Court disagreed with NMRCL in the following words: "The civil construction work completed by the petitioner [GYT-TPL JV] in terms of condition no. 4.2 (a) was for an intercity high speed railway project in China and in the said contract, the petitioner had completed a viaduct of 7.284 km length....The petitioner has admittedly constructed a viaduct of not less than 5 km for the prestigious Pearl River Delta Intercity high speed railway project in China. We ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Railway (Construction of Works) Act, 1978 and The Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002 extend to Nagpur and are applicable to the Nagpur Metro Rail Project. The expression 'metro railways' has been defined in Section 2(i) of the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978 in the following words: "(i) "metro railway" means a metro railway or any portion thereof for the public carriage of passengers, animals or goods and includes,-- (a) all land within the boundary marks indicating the limits of the land appurtenant to a metro railway. (b) all lines of rails, sidings, yards or branches worked over for the purposes of, or in connection with, a metro railway, (c) all stations, offices, ventilation shafts and ducts, ware ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... have high speed trains and the frequency of trains is much greater that of inter-city trains.1 A metro rail may extend, in some cases, to a suburb of a metropolitan city but it essentially remains an intra-city project. There is, therefore, a qualitative difference between an inter-city rail and a metro rail. By itself, this In Delhi the time duration is approximately to 2-3 minutes during peak hours and 5-10 minutes during off peak duration in the city. Source: http://www.delhicapital.com/delhi-metro/metro-train-timings.html indicates a qualitative difference in a railway project that is inter-city and a railway project that is intra-city and the construction of a viaduct for a railway project that is inter-city and a railway project that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of India (1994) 6 SCC 651. went a step further and held that a decision if challenged (the decision having been arrived at through a valid process), the constitutional Courts can interfere if the decision is perverse. However, the constitutional Courts are expected to exercise restraint in interfering with the administrative decision and ought not to substitute its view for that of the administrative authority. This was confirmed in Jagdish Mandal v. State of Orissa (2007) 14 SCC 517. as mentioned in Central Coalfields. 13. In other words, a mere disagreement with the decision making process or the decision of the administrative authority is no reason for a constitutional Court to interfere. The threshold of mala fides, intenti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... interpretation given by NMRCL to the tender conditions, we are of the view that even if there was such an ambiguity or doubt, the High Court ought to have refrained from giving its own interpretation unless it had come to a clear conclusion that the interpretation given by NMRCL was perverse or mala fide or intended to favour one of the bidders. This was certainly not the case either before the High Court or before this Court. 17. Under the circumstances, we find merit in the appeals filed by the appellants and set aside the judgment and orders passed by the High Court and restore the decision of NMRCL to the effect that GYT-TPL JV was not eligible to bid for the contract under consideration. 18. Before we conclude, it is necessary to po ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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