Bidder Cannot Reopen Concluded E-Auction Due To Own Technical Glitch: Calcutta High Court

On 23 April, the Calcutta High Court held that a bidder cannot seek reopening of a concluded e-auction process on the ground of a technical glitch arising at its own end, as such a plea cannot justify a second opportunity once the auction has closed.

A Bench of Justice Krishna Rao dismissed a writ petition filed by City Mall Vikash Pvt Ltd and another against the Union of India and Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (Kolkata), which had issued a tender for allotment of land inside the CME compound at Garden Reach, Kolkata on a 30-year lease. It held:

“The petitioners have admitted that due to technical glitch in the computer of the petitioners, the petitioners could not participate in the e-tender process after 10:40 hours but this Court has already held that the petitioners failed to utilize the four minutes from 22:45 to 22:49 hours, thus the petitioners cannot claim that if the work order is not issued, the petitioners can be allowed to further participate in the bid process from the stage of the bidding at 10:40 p.m.”

The dispute arose from a tender dated 5 November 2025, with the e-auction conducted on 26 March 2026. The petitioners participated in the bidding process for several hours but were disconnected at around 10:40 p.m. due to an alleged system glitch. Their connection was restored at 22:45 hours, while the bidding window remained open until 22:49:34 hours, yet they did not place any further bid during that period.

They contended before the High Court that they should be permitted to rejoin the process from the stage at which they were disconnected. The respondents, including MSTC, disputed the existence of any portal-level failure and submitted that the auction had validly concluded in accordance with the terms.

The Court noted that the tender conditions expressly excluded liability for technical issues at the bidder's end and held that reopening the process would amount to granting an impermissible second chance in a concluded auction. It observed:

“Mere the allotment letter is not issued to the private respondent, will not create any right upon the petitioners to participate in the tender process from the stage at 10.40 p.m. on 26th March, 2026 along with other bidders, which is already closed at 22:49:34 hours.”

Accordingly, the High Court upheld the finality of the e-auction process and dismissed the writ petition.

For Petitioner: Senior Advocate Krishnaraj Thaker with Advocates Reshmi Ghosh, Rohit Banerjee, Sayan Sengupta

For UOI: Advocates Ajit Kumar Mishra, Sovan Mukherjee

For MSTC: Advocate Barnik Ghosh

For Respondents: Kishore Dutta, A.G., Senior Advocate Abhrajit Mitra with Advocates Snehashis Sen, Ajit Kumar Mishra, Abhishek Banerjee, Debdatta Mukhopadhyay, Deepan Kumar Sarkar, Yash Singhi, Sourav Bhagat, Jishnujit Roy, Biswajit Roy, Deveshi Bose