Is it permissible to pay a sum of money to secure a contracting project, knowing that the project is not being taken from someone else?

It is not permissible to pay a bribe to secure a project if you are equal to others in entitlement, or if others are more entitled than you, because it involves nullifying the right of another. However, if you are more entitled to it due to the quality of your specifications and the lower cost of your prices, and you cannot obtain it except by paying a bribe, then there is no harm in that, because you are thereby reaching your right without nullifying the right of another.