GAUHATI HIGH COURT ISSUES ORDER ON NORSEMAN OILFIELD TECHNOLOGIES FZ-LLC AND ANR V/S OIL INDIA LIMITED AND 5 ORS.

GUWAHATI, India, May 1 -- Gauhati High Court issued the following order on March 31:

1. Heard Mr. D. Das, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. R. Sharma, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. A. Sharma, learned Standing

2. Having regard to the nature of issues canvassed in this writ petition, the writ petition is taken up for final consideration at the motion stage itself, at the instance of the learned counsel for the parties. In such view of the matter, and in view of the order to be passed after consideration of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties, notice to the profoma respondent no. 6 is found not necessary.

3. The respondent Oil India Ltd. by an Invitation for Bid [IFB] no. CDG4364P24 invited International Competitive Bids [ICBs] from competent and experienced Contractors through OIL's e-procurement site for 'Charger Hire of 0.1 no. of Hydraulic Workover Unit [Snubbing] is Assam & Arunachal Pradesh' ['the Contract-Work', for short]. The type of bid was online Open Global eTender : Single Stage-Two Bid System. As per the Tender Document, the bid amount was INR 1.47 crores or USD 177,000.00 and the amount of performance security deposit was 10% of annualized total contract value.

4. The petitioners have stated that the petitioner no. 1 is a company incorporated under the laws of United Arab Emirates and it has gained huge experience in the field of oil and gas exploration. The petitioner no. 2 is a wholly owned subsidiary of the petitioner no. 1 company and it has its registered office at Guwahati, Assam, India.

5. In response to the IFB no. CDG4364P24, the parent company along with the subsidiary company participated in the tender process with the experience of the petitioner no. 1 company for qualification in terms of the eligibility criteria laid down in the Tender Document. In the tender process, the bid of the petitioner no. 2 company on the basis of the experience of the petitioner no. 1 company was found responsive.

6. By a Letter of Award [LoA] dated 04.09.2024, the respondent OIL awarded the Contract-Work for Charter Hire of 01 [one] no. of Hydraulic Workover Unit [Snubbing] i.e. brand new unit Model - 460K HWU at a total estimated contract cost of INR 302,27,99,540.88, inclusive of GST@12%, as per the cost details tabulated in the LoA. One of the conditions laid down in the LoA was that the petitioners as the LoA holder were to submit performance security for an amount of INR 9.00 crores in the form of Bank Guarantee in the prescribed format within 19.09.2024 with validity up to 31.10.2028. As the petitioner no. 2 company had qualified on the basis of the experience of the petitioner no. 1 company, the petitioners were also required to furnish an additional performance security of INR 4.50 crores [being 50% of the value of performance security required to be submitted] as per the prescribed proforma provided in the Tender Document within the same time period with the same validity.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=I1mmm2bl4r4EREhYK63Kv0dWEbV%2BvQsIDxKeCDW0Jl900gyc2ioE671ya0sEi96P&caseno=WP(C)/1840/2026&cCode=1&cino=GAHC010064842026&state_code=6&appFlag=)

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