Court Opinion

ID: 9757232
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:26:37.245425+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:36.710583
License: Public Domain

LARAMORE, Judge
(dissenting).
While I cannot condone the wrong done plaintiff, as alleged, I must respectfully dissent.
If the officer acting on behalf of the Government wás guilty of the acts alleged in the petition, it would amount to fraud. A suit founded on fraud would sound in tort, and it is clear that this court has no original jurisdiction of tort actions. Martilla v. United States, 118 Ct.Cl. 177.
The plaintiff, in order to recover, must show that he has a contract that he shall receive fair consideration of his bid, or that a statute by its own terms authorizes his recovery in the event his bid does not receive fair consideration. Neither the facts nor the statutes involved justify a conclusion that the Government made a contract with plaintiff to give him fair consideration. On the other hand, there is nothing in the statute which, by its own terms, would authorize the plaintiff to receive a judgment if the contracting officials had not given his bid fair consideration. Without one or the other basis, I cannot see how the court can render judgment for the plaintiff.
I would dismiss the petition.