Delhi HC rejects Rotoffset plea against SPMCI’s award of excise label printing tender to Rotatek

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by Rotoffset Corporation seeking quashing of proprietary article certificates (PAC) issued by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCI) to Rotatek Printing & Packaging Technologies S.L.

Upholding the decision of government-owned SPMCI to award the tender for the design and supply of a customised excise adhesive label printing machine to Rotatek, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Devender Kumar Upahyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected Rotoffset's plea for directions to the Central Vigilance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Central Bureau of Investigation, or any other investigating authority, to conduct a thorough probe into procurement transactions involving Rotatek-branded entities from 2012 onwards.

Rotoffset, a micro, small and medium enterprise category unit, had alleged that Rotatek Printing and its previous avatars were shell companies and had indulged in largescale fraud, fabrication and manipulation of documents, resulting in the contract being awarded to the latter.


The court said that though the May 7 tender was in the petitioner’s knowledge, it chose not to challenge it or its conditions at that stage. Not only did the petitioner not challenge the conditions of the tender in time, it waited all along until the contract under the tender was awarded to Rotatek Printing, the bench said, noting that Rotatek Printing had already started executing the project.

“The narration of relevant dates and facts unequivocally and unerringly point out to the fact that the petitioner lacks in due diligence and the challenge laid in the petition is unreasonably delayed,” the judges said, adding that the writ petition was not maintainable.

Rotoffset, which claims to have over 30 years of expertise in printing technology, was in 2022 awarded a contract by SPMCI through a transparent bidding process for the design and supply of a customised excise adhesive label printing machine worth Rs 17.5 crore. It submitted that it began execution of the contract, complied with tender’s enhanced technical specifications, and substantially completed the machine by January 2025.

Despite SPMCI extending the delivery deadline to March 2025, the contract was abruptly cancelled in January 2025, citing non-performance, without granting a hearing or issuing a reasoned order, the petitioner said.

Soon after the cancellation, SPMCI issued proprietary article certificates in favour of a newly incorporated foreign company Rotatek Printing, which lacked legitimate original equipment manufacturer credentials, Rotoffset alleged, adding that Rotatek Printing was a shell company with no manufacturing history, misleadingly projected as an original equipment manufacturer for servicing obsolete Rotatek machines.

Rotoffset said this procurement violated the General Financial Rules, bypasses competitive bidding, excludes capable Indian MSEs and undermined the "Make in India" and "Atmanirbhar Bharat" policies.

The petitioner alleged Rotatek SA, the original equipment manufacturer, was liquidated in June 2012 by the competent authority/Court in Barcelona, Spain and its name was changed many times, ostensibly, by creation of shell companies, and lastly resulting in formation of a fraud company, i.e., Rotatek Printing.

SPMCI opposed the petitioner’s stand, saying the tender was based on PAC and, therefore, the petitioner cannot claim any grievance to that extent, since the tendering authority has the competence and jurisdiction to decide as to how a tender is to be formulated.

Additionally, the company submitted that Rotatek was not a stranger to the tendering authority, as purchases had been regularly made from Rotatek since 1999 and there was no reason as to why it would suspect or doubt the integrity of Rotatek.