The Delhi High Court recently disposed of a petition challenging the Directorate General of Armed Forces Medical Services’ (DGAFMS) decision which declared Wipro GE Healthcare as the L1 bidder in a tender for the supply of 3-Tesla MRI machines.
The tender, outlined in the Bid Document, included specific technical specifications and mandatory additional parameters as described in the Broad-Based Qualitative Requirements (BBQR). The slew rate of 200 T/m/s and a peak amplitude of 40 mT/m as provided under the BBQR was the minimum acceptable technical specifications for a qualifiable bid.
Philips participated in the tender with its product, the Ingenia Elition X, while Wipro GE submitted its SIGNA Hero model. Upon the opening of the technical bids, Philips discovered that Wipro GE had entered the bid with SIGNA Hero. Through publicly available information, Philips identified that the SIGNA Hero did not meet the mandatory technical specifications outlined in the BBQR, as it featured a slew rate of only 150 T/m/s and a peak amplitude of only 36 mT/m.
Philips raised concerns with the DGAFMS through multiple communications, alleging that Wipro GE had intentionally submitted a non-compliant product to offer a lower price and gain an unfair advantage in the tender process. Despite these representations, the DGAFMS summarily rejected Philips' objections one day before the financial bids were opened.
Subsequently, Wipro GE was declared the L1 bidder based on its financial bid. In response, Philips filed a writ petition with the Delhi High Court, challenging the DGAFMS's decision. The Court directed the DGAFMS to re-evaluate Wipro GE's product, allowing them to request further documentation if necessary.
A technical expert committee from the DGAFMS conducted a re-evaluation of the SIGNA Hero and determined that it did not comply with the bid requirements, specifically in relation to the slew rate and peak amplitude as required by the BBQR. The Court upheld the committee’s findings. Consequently, as a result of Philips’ writ petition, the tender process was accordingly scrapped.
“Ordinarily, writ courts refrain from interfering in the evaluation process of tendering authorities, especially in government tenders. This makes it difficult to course-correct flaws in the evaluation process, more so those pertaining to technical aspects. But in this matter, the High Court’s rightful and timely interference led to a thorough re-evaluation of the technical aspects, resulting in overturning of the government's previous decision to declare Wipro GE as compliant with the tender specifications,” said Udit Mendiratta, Partner, Argus Partners, while highlighting the significance of the order.
Philips India was represented by Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, briefed by a team from Argus Partners.
The Argus team consisted of Udit Mendiratta (Partner), Shivkrit Rai (Senior Associate) and Daniyal Qureshi, Apeksha Singh (Associates).
