Delhi High Court Seeks Defence Ministry’s Response on Rejected Bid for Supplying Carbines

The Delhi High Court has asked the Defence Ministry and other related departments to respond to a plea by BSS Materiel Limited. This company, an authorized vendor of Indo Russian Rifle Private Limited (IRRPL), challenged the rejection of its bid to supply Close Quarter Battle (CQB) Carbines worth Rs 12000 Crores to the Armed Forces.

IRRPL, a joint venture between India and Russia, manufactures these carbines in Amethi. The plea was moved through the legal firm Lex Panacea. A division bench led by acting Chief Justice Manmohan has requested a response from the Ministry of Defence by August 9, the next hearing date.

The bench issued a notice at the end of April to the Ministry of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Secretary DMA, and five others, including the Additional Director General (ADG) Acquisition Technical (Army). The bid, submitted on May 2, 2023, was rejected on December 11, 2023, for not meeting the financial criteria of Average Annual Turnover and net worth as stipulated in the Request for Proposal (RFP).

BSS Materiel Limited seeks to overturn this rejection, arguing that the financial criteria were not clearly discussed in the RFP. They also claim that their bid was submitted as a Medium Small Enterprise (MSE), which the respondent recognized by not demanding an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD).

The petitioner has requested the court to set aside the rejection letter and allow them to participate in the evaluation process on a cost-no-commitment basis, as well as in future evaluations as per the trial methodology in the RFP.