On July 29, 2025, the Bombay High Court dismissed two writ petitions filed by M/s Veer Infra and STC-ETC-MAE (JV) challenging the tender process initiated by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) for the collection and transportation of municipal solid waste across various wards for the period 2025–2032.
A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V. Marne upheld the legality of the Corrigendum-III dated July 1, 2025, issued by the MCGM, which modified several eligibility and evaluation criteria in the original tender. The petitioners alleged that the revised tender conditions were arbitrary and designed to exclude eligible bidders by introducing unfeasible requirements such as seven years’ experience in door-to-door waste collection and a heavily weighted subjective marking scheme.
Rejecting these contentions, the Court held that the MCGM was the best judge of its own requirements and had not acted arbitrarily or irrationally. It emphasized that judicial review in tender matters is limited, and courts should not substitute their views for administrative discretion unless there is evidence of mala fides or patent illegality.
The Court found no merit in the argument that a seven-year experience requirement was unreasonable, clarifying that it only required similar work experience during the last seven years, not continuous service for seven years. It also rejected the objection to the marking system where 50 out of 100 marks were assigned to work plans and presentations as being without basis, especially given the turnkey nature of the contract.
Further, the Court noted that the earlier restriction on joint ventures bidding for multiple groups had been removed by the MCGM in Corrigendum-III, thereby addressing the petitioners’ concerns on that front as well.
Finding no arbitrariness or mala fide in the revised tender conditions, the High Court dismissed both petitions, thereby clearing the path for the execution of one of Mumbai’s largest public sanitation contracts
Appearances:
Dr. Virendra Tulzapurkar, Senior Advocate with Mr. Mandar Soman, Ms. Pooja Batra, Mr. Suraj Iyer, Mr. Mani Thevar and Mr. Atharva Utekar i/b. M/s. Ganesh and Co. for the Petitioner in WPL/21228/2025.
Mr. Vishal Pattabiraman with Mr. Meet Pandya and Mr. Sachin Patil i/b. Mr. Nitesh Agarwal for the Petitioner in WPL/21353/2025.
Mr. Nikhil Sakhardande, Senior Advocate with Mr. Pralhad Paranjape & Ms. Oorja Dhond i/b. Ms. Komal R. Punjabi for Respondent Nos.1 to 3 – MCGM in both the Petitions.
Mr. Bhushan Deshmukh with Mr. Akshay B. Udeshi i/b. M/s. AU Legal, for Respondent No.4 in both the Petitions.
Mr. Vishal Thadani, Additional Government Pleader, for Respondent No.5- State in WPL/21228/2025.
Mr. Amar Mishra, AGP for Respondent No.5-State in WPL/21353/2025