Public procurement

--- Tender process --- Departure from advertised terms --- Midstream alteration of conditions --- Additional financial requirements --- Scope --- In public procurement, all material terms, benchmarks and financial obligations governing participation must be expressly disclosed in the tender advertisement to ensure a free, fair, open and competitive process --- A procuring agency cannot subsequently impose additional conditions, securities or liabilities on the basis of undisclosed criteria or internal estimates --- Any post-bid reliance on factors not incorporated in the Notice Inviting Tenders constitutes a change of rules after commencement of the process, offends principles of transparency, consistency and equal treatment of bidders, and renders the action arbitrary and legally unsustainable --- Judicial review will intervene where procurement decisions are tainted by non-transparency, discrimination or departure from advertised terms.