King Stubb & Kasiva Secures Favorable Orders in Landmark Public Procurement Case Before the Hon’ble Supreme Court and Allahabad High Court

King Stubb & Kasiva, is pleased to announce a significant legal victory achieved by its Disputes and Litigation team in a case concerning the awarding of a cloud services contract under the Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), 2012.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons had awarded the tender to an MSME entity, although the substantial portion of the contract was to be executed by a third-party cloud services provider. Representing the petitioner, KSK successfully challenged the award of the contract before the Hon’ble High Court of Allahabad, which set aside the tender and laid down a critical legal precedent by applying the “dominant partner” test—asserting that the principal executor of the contract cannot be a proxy through an MSME status.

The judgment of the Hon’ble High Court was subsequently challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The KSK team, leading the defense, successfully secured an order dismissing the Special Leave Petition (SLP), thereby upholding the High Court’s decision and reinforcing the integrity of public procurement mechanisms.

The arguments before the Hon’ble Supreme Court were led by distinguished Senior Advocates Mr. Mukul Rohatgi and Mr. Sai Deepak J. The King Stubb & Kasiva team comprised Mr. Sukrit R Kapoor (Partner), Mr. Aayushya Aankul (Senior Associate), and Mr. Navnit Kumar (Associate). Mr. Divyanshu Kumar Srivastava acted as the Advocate on Record.

This decision marks a vital development in Indian public procurement law, especially in the context of misuse of MSME status in complex tech-enabled contracts. It is also a testament to KSK’s commitment to legal excellence, shaping jurisprudence in emerging sectors.