Sharma, J. - (1.) Special Leave is granted.
(2.) In response to a notice inviting tenders by the Diesel Locomotive Works, Indian Railways, in connection with disposal of one lot of Ferrous Scrap, a number of tenders were submitted by the appellant, the respondent No. 1 and other intending purchasers. The tenders of the respondent No. 1 and some other bidders were rejected as defective and the appellant's offer being the highest was accepted, and accordingly the appellant deposited a sum of about Rs. 15 lacs. The respondent No. 1 challenged the decision by a writ petition before the Allahabad High Court contending that there was no defect in its tender and that the tender of the appellant could not have been validly accepted as the necessary condition of payment of Rs. 50,000/- as earnest money with the tender had not been complied with. The application was resisted on the grounds (i) that the respondent No. 1 having not deposited the earnest money at all was not entitled to a consideration of its tender and has no locus standi in the present matter; and (ii) that the appellant had substantially complied with the requirement by sending with its tender a Banker's Cheque marked and certified by the Union Bank of India as good for payment. The High Court accepted the appellant's first ground, holding that the tender of the respondent had been rightly rejected for failure to deposit the earnest money, but allowed the writ petition on the finding that the appellant also did not satisfy the condition No.6 of the tender notice as the earnest money was offered by the Banker's Cheque of a bank other than the State Bank of India mentioned in the said clause. The High Court directed the authorities to consider the other valid tenders and further observed that should the other tenders be found to be unacceptable it would be open to the authorities to invite fresh tenders. The present appeal is directed against this judgment.
(3.) The case of the appellant has been that its tender mentioned the highest amount of one and a half crores rupees for the 2000 M.T. of Ferrous Scrap which was a very fair price, and the authorities were absolutely right in accepting the same. With respect to the alleged deficiency in the matter of deposit of the earnest amount, the stand is that a Banker's Cheque is as good as cash and especially so when a verification. from the bank in question about its authenticity was made and the bank's assurance to honour the same was obtained. Admittedly, the Tender Committee had taken the precaution of getting the matter confirmed from the appellant's bank before deciding to accept his tender.;