SC upholds NAFED tender for export of 35,000 tonne non-basmati white rice

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the nod to the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India’s (NAFED) tender for export of 35,000 tonnes of 25% broken non-basmati white rice to Cote D’Ivoire.

It dismissed the Rice Exporters Association of India’s appeal, seeking a direction to NAFED to issue a fresh tender with utmost transparency.

The Delhi High Court had on February 28 rejected the association’s plea, and upheld NAFED’s tender while holding that it was “neither arbitrary nor violative of the fundamental rights” of the association or its members.

Seeking a fresh tender process in a “transparent” manner with or without either appointment of a facilitating agency, the rice exporters’ body wanted an equal opportunity to all exporters to participate and qualify in the tendering process.

Opposing the appointment of Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) as the facilitating agency to monitor the tender process, the Association alleged “collusion” in the appointment of IREF, saying its inclusion was “without any rationale or nexus” and “manifestly arbitrary” and “casts doubt on the entire tendering process,”

Stating that the HC’s judgment is “totally perverse” and deserves to be set aside, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for exporter body, said that the mere fact that the exporters empaneled with NAFED and the members of IREF have been given preference in participating in the tendering process over all other individuals who have valid licenses and prior experience in the trade is clearly indicative of the “arbitrariness of the tender conditions.”It submitted that “the eligibility criteria in the tender documents are tailor-made to subserve the business interest of a class of manufactures/exporters of non-basmati white rice and exclude the members of the petitioner-Association and other rice exporters/traders involved in the export of non-basmati white rice who possess requisite trade license and experience under the law. In as much as NAFED has been acting whimsically with the ulterior motive of advancing the business interests of IREF in total disregard to the members of the petitioner-Association, the tender document deserves to be set aside with immediate effect, being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.”In the tender issued on February 22, the eligibility under technical criteria stated that the bidder should be registered as an empanelled exporter with NAFED or as a member of the IREF.

NAFED, though senior counsel CA Sundaram, argued that the issue of conflict of interest does not exist, and was without any basis and raised with a sole motive to delay the impugned tender process.