Goa Mining E-Auction Supreme Court Upholds Auction, Rejects Server Glitch Plea
Subtitle: A two-judge bench ruled that constitutional courts cannot deeply examine complex technical discrepancies during judicial review and upheld the Bombay High Court’s refusal to reopen bidding for the Cavorem-Maina Mineral Block.
Goa Mining E-Auction Supreme Court Upholds High Court Verdict
The Goa mining e-auction Supreme Court ruling has upheld the Bombay High Court’s decision refusing to interfere with the e-auction of the Cavorem-Maina Mineral Block in Goa. The Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC) conducted the auction through its online platform. A bench comprising Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice Alok Aradhe found no reason to overturn the High Court’s judgment.
Petitioner Alleges MSTC Portal Failure During Live Bidding
The dispute began after Agravanshi Private Limited challenged the auction process. The company claimed that the MSTC bidding portal became unresponsive during the final stage of the auction. According to the petitioner, the system froze just after the highest bidder increased its offer to 88.88%.
Senior Advocate Krishnan Venugopal, appearing for the petitioner, submitted screenshots to support the claim. He argued that the petitioner’s computer clock showed 3:02 p.m., while the auction dashboard remained stuck at 3:01 p.m. He contended that the time difference indicated a server-side malfunction that prevented the company from placing a higher bid.
Company Claims It Reported the Issue Immediately
The petitioner argued that it raised the issue without delay. According to the respondents’ pleadings, a company representative called an MSTC official at 3:09 p.m. The company also sent four emails later that afternoon reporting that the bidding webpage had stopped functioning.
The petitioner said these communications proved it tried to resolve the technical problem while the auction was still in progress.
Supreme Court Declines to Examine Technical Disputes in Judicial Review
The bench questioned whether constitutional courts could accurately determine highly technical disputes during judicial review. Justice Viswanathan observed that courts should avoid entering areas where they cannot apply a reliable legal standard.
The petitioner also submitted new evidence before the Supreme Court. It included a certificate from an Internet Service Provider confirming uninterrupted internet connectivity between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the auction day. The company also relied on a report from a certified Information Systems Auditor stating that its local computer systems functioned properly.
However, the bench noted that the petitioner had not presented these documents before the Bombay High Court. As a result, the Supreme Court refused to consider them and confined its review to the evidence already on record.
Court Declines Request for E-Auction Audit Guidelines
Before the hearing concluded, the petitioner’s counsel requested the Court to frame guidelines for appointing independent technical experts in e-auction disputes. The bench declined the request. It observed that a suitable case could address such guidelines in the future, but the present matter was not appropriate for that exercise.
The Goa mining e-auction Supreme Court decision ultimately dismissed the Special Leave Petition. The ruling leaves the Bombay High Court’s decision intact and confirms the validity of the Cavorem-Maina Mineral Block auction.
