Case Study: Procurement Bias

Scenario: You are a member of a selection committee for a multi-crore govt project. One of the bidders is your Brother-in-law.

Case Scenario	- Member of selection committee for a multi-crore public project discovering that one of the competing commercial bidders is a close relative (brother-in-law)
Ethical Conflict	- Direct Conflict of Interest (CoI) between private family relationship and objective public procurement duty
Ethical Choice & Correct Action	- Immediate Proactive Disclosure: formally declare the personal relationship in writing to the Selection Committee Chairman - Formal Recusal: voluntarily step down from evaluating the tender to guarantee impartiality (*Nemo judex in causa sua*)
High-Yield Ethics Data & Exemplars	- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) bidding rules & General Financial Rules (GFR 2017 Rule 173 CoI mandates) - DoPT Conflict of Interest guidelines for public procurement
Conclusion	- Success lies in moving from personal bias to **"Neutrality-Saturated and Disclosure-Verified Public Procurement"**