The Bombay High Court on Friday, February 3, rejected a challenge to conditions in the Maharashtra government's tender for supplying sanitary napkins to state-run schools. The court emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and hygiene of students and deemed the clauses necessary for maintaining quality.

The petition, filed by a start-up owned by a 69-year-old man, was dismissed by a division bench consisting of acting chief justice S V Gangapurwala and justice Sandeep Marne. The tender is for the supply of napkins to 9,940 government schools.

In this regard, the court said, "Safety and hygiene of school girls are important and for that purpose, the quality has to be maintained. We do not find any illegality in the tender conditions," as stated in a report by PTI.

What were the conditions?

The court acknowledged the conditions of the tender, which required bidders to have at least three years of experience in supplying sanitary napkins and an annual turnover of Rs 12 crore. The additional government pleader B V Samant explained that these conditions were necessary to ensure the quality of the product.

In its ruling, the court emphasised that the tender was for the safety and hygiene of school girls in the state of Maharashtra. It noted that due to the large scale of the project, supplying napkins to 9,940 schools, experience and past turnover were relevant considerations in ensuring quality. The court stated that quality was the most important factor to be kept in mind by the state, as per a PTI story.