NIT. The respondent herein was the second highest bidder, who subsequently became the highest bidder, as Shri Pritam Das, the original highest bidder did not come forward to execute the contract. Accordingly, the contract came to be offered to the respondent who accepted the offer so given. The tenure of the contract as per NIT was from 1st April, 2010 till 31st March, 2011. In terms of Clause-8 of the NIT, the successful bidder was required to deposit 40% of the bid amount within 24 hours from the time of acceptance, i.e. on or before 31st March, 2010. It was also enjoined 2upon the bidder to deposit 5 post dated cheques along with bank guarantee to secure the amount for remaining tenure of the contract period. 4. Clause-8 of NIT would be germane to the controversy and is being reproduced hereinbelow for the sake of ready reference: - “8. The successful highest bidder, shall have to deposit 40% of the offered amount at the time of provisional acceptance of the offer by the committee