- (1.) Should the court insist that the rules/regulations governing conduct of online forward auctions be adhered to in toto, or should deviation therefrom for fetching a better price for the materials put up for auction be upheld, is the basic question that emerges for decision on this writ petition.
(2.) The marketing department of Durgapur Steel Plant, Steel Authority of India (hereafter SAIL) had issued a tender notice dated January 25, 2016 for sale of 45,000 t of 'Unprocessed Iron Scrap' (hereafter Lot -1) and 6,25,000 t of 0 -20 mm of 'Ferrous Fractions' (hereafter Lot -2). SAIL had appointed an agent, Mjunction Services Ltd. (hereafter mjunction), a service provider, to conduct online auction in adherence to the General Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct of Online Forward Auctions (hereafter the Rules for online auction).
(3.) Three bidders participated in the auction, i.e. the first petitioner, Neha Construction Pvt. Ltd. (hereafter Neha) and M/s. Mahaluxmi Rolling Mills (hereafter MRM). The bidding process started on April 20, 2016 at 14.00 hours, with the following starting price: Lot -1 ~Rs.5,710/ - per t (Bid value = Rs.25,65,00,000/ -) Lot -2 ~ Rs.90/ - per t (Bid value = Rs. 5,62,50,000/ -) ;