The Supreme Court of India has ruled that a tendering authority cannot reject a bid merely because the bidder did not deliver a physical “original” receipt for bid security that was already paid electronically. In Hardev Construction Private Limited v. Union of India & Ors., decided on 12 October 2026, the Court held that insisting on an original document that cannot exist is an impossible and perverse application of the tender condition.
The decision in brief
A two-judge bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran allowed Hardev Construction’s appeal in Hardev Construction Private Limited v. Union of India & Ors., 2026 INSC 1110, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 1066. The case arose from an East Central Railway engineering, procurement and construction tender for guide bunds, launching aprons and related river-protection works on the Bikramshila-Katareah New Line Rail Link Project.
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The tender, Bid/Package No. ECR-CAO-C-S-EPC-05-25-26, was dated 6 January 2026. Hardev Construction paid the bid security through the railway authority’s electronic payment gateway and uploaded a scanned digital receipt. The amount recorded in the Patna High Court proceedings was Rs. 1,02,69,400.
Clause 2.20.6(ii) required an “original” bid-security form to be delivered physically to a nominated official. The railway treated that wording as requiring physical delivery of an original receipt for the electronic transaction and rejected the bid at the technical stage. The Patna High Court upheld that decision on 21 July 2026. The Supreme Court set it aside and directed the authority to proceed with Hardev Construction’s bid.
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Why the Supreme Court found the rejection unlawful
Electronic payment is not a paper instrument
The Court distinguished between security represented by a physical instrument and money already transferred electronically. A bank guarantee, account-payee demand draft, fixed-deposit receipt or banker’s cheque may need physical delivery because possession can establish the authority’s lien or its ability to enforce the instrument. An electronic payment operates differently: once the funds have reached the authority’s account, the authority controls the money.
On those facts, the uploaded digital receipt was evidence of a completed transfer. There was no second physical original that could add control, security or enforceability. The demand therefore required the bidder to produce something that did not exist.
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Impossibility made the literal interpretation perverse
The Court said that rigid adherence to a document’s wording cannot be accepted where compliance is clearly impossible. It described the rejection as a “clear perversity”: the payment required by the tender had been made, the digital receipt had been scanned and uploaded, yet the bid was rejected solely because an original was not produced.
The judgment does not erase tender conditions. It addresses the way a condition is applied when its literal reading defeats the tender’s protective purpose and demands an impossible act.
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What the Court ordered
The respondents were directed to award the contract to the appellant, subject to completion of the remaining tender requirements. Because the bid security had subsequently been refunded, the authority had to facilitate a fresh electronic payment within two weeks. If technical difficulty prevented electronic payment, another permissible form could be submitted within a further two weeks.
After the bid security was resubmitted, Hardev Construction’s financial bid was to be opened and considered alongside the other bids, and the tender was to be finalized under the remaining conditions.
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How this ruling applies to other tenders
The strongest argument is not that every “original” requirement is optional. The relevant question is whether the disputed document performs a real security or verification function in the circumstances.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match| Question | Electronic payment | Paper or instrument-based security |
|---|---|---|
| What represents the security? | Funds transferred into the authority’s account | A bank guarantee, demand draft, fixed-deposit receipt or banker’s cheque |
| Does physical possession add control? | Generally, the authority already controls the transferred funds | Physical delivery may establish possession, lien or enforceability |
| What proof should accompany the bid? | The digital transaction receipt or other portal evidence required by the tender | The original instrument where the tender requires it |
| What is the legal issue? | Whether demanding a physical original serves any additional purpose | Whether failure to deliver the instrument leaves the authority without the promised security |
What bidders should do
- Identify the permitted security modes. Read the tender’s bid-security clause and confirm whether it accepts electronic payment, a bank instrument, a guarantee or more than one method.
- Complete the payment before the deadline. Retain the gateway confirmation, bank debit record, transaction reference and portal acknowledgement.
- Upload the required proof. Submit the digital receipt in the file format, size and portal field specified by the tender. A scanned copy should be legible and show the amount, date, payer and transaction identifier.
- Check for a separate physical-delivery obligation. If the tender expressly requires an original instrument for a paper form of security, comply with that requirement when using that form. Do not assume the Hardev ruling excuses delivery of a bank guarantee or demand draft.
- Raise an objection immediately if rejected. Ask the authority to identify what additional enforcement or verification function the physical original would provide after the funds have already reached its account. Preserve the rejection notice and all payment records.
Limits of the ruling
The decision is fact-sensitive. The Supreme Court relied on four features: the security was paid electronically; the money was in the respondents’ account; the digital receipt had been uploaded; and the requested physical original could not exist. A bidder who paid the wrong amount, paid late, used an unapproved gateway, failed to upload the required proof or submitted an unreadable receipt may not obtain the same result.
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Nor does the judgment authorize courts to rewrite commercially significant tender terms. The Court discussed Prakash Asphaltings and Toll Highways (India) Ltd. v. Mandeepa Enterprises and Others, (2026) 4 SCC 310, which emphasizes compliance with the stated tender format and judicial deference to the awarding authority’s interpretation. Hardev Construction is different because the authority’s interpretation turned a completed electronic payment into a requirement to produce a non-existent paper original.
Practical takeaway for construction contractors
For an electronically paid bid security, the decisive evidence is the completed transfer and the tender-compliant digital proof—not a paper receipt that the payment system never created. Contractors should still follow every stated portal and timing requirement, but if an authority rejects an otherwise valid e-payment solely for lack of a physical original, Hardev Construction provides a direct Supreme Court basis to challenge that decision.
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