Cuttack: The Orissa high court has set aside the decision of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to cancel a mining tender for the Kodingamali bauxite mine, holding the move arbitrary and legally unsustainable, and directing the state public sector undertaking to complete the process. The high court ruling came recently while considering a writ petition filed by a private bidder that had emerged successful in the auction.The case relates to a tender floated by OMC on Nov 3, 2025, for selection of a mine operator for the Kodingamali bauxite mine spanning Koraput and Rayagada districts with a target of 35 lakh metric tonnes per year for five years and extendable for three years. The petitioner company contended that the bidding process had been completed in its entirety — from technical evaluation to financial bid opening and final auction — culminating in the emergence of the lowest bidder from among the nine bidders who qualified the technical and financial criteria.However, before a work order could be issued, the company found that OMC had uploaded a tender cancellation notice dated Jan 5, 2026, on its portal. Challenging the move, the petitioner company alleged that the decision lacked transparency and was arbitrary. In the March 31 judgment, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman observed: “The entire tender process got concluded after the exploration and finalization of the lowest bidding price among the techno commercially qualified bidders. Therefore, after having completed the entire tender process, the petitioner company was entitled to be issued with a work order by the OMC.”Coming down heavily on the corporation, the bench noted, “The tender cancellation notice dated 05.01.2025 is bald, cryptic and bereft of reason… It is demonstrably manifest that the chairman, OMC has disbelieved the noting of his own officials justifying the eligibility criteria.” The bench also rejected OMC’s stand that re-tendering removing the restriction on the sub-contracting could attract wider participation, calling the reasoning “unfounded.” It pointed out that any restrictive condition in the Request for Proposal (RfP) had already been addressed through a corrigendum issued during the pre-bid stage after expert consideration.Holding that the decision-making process was flawed, the bench ruled: “From whatever angle the matter is looked at, this court does not find any legality in the order and justification of the chairman, OMC to override the views/opinions of the technical experts. The decision-making process leading the chairman to cancel the tender in entirety is flawed. The tender cancellation notice dated 05.01.2026 cannot be countenanced and hence, the same is quashed and set aside.” The judges directed OMC’s managing director and chief general manager (mining) to proceed with completion of formalities in connection with the original RfP dated Nov 3, 2025.