LAKSHMI VENKATESHWARA BOREWELLS SHIDLAGHATTA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner inter alia has sought for quashing of conditions in No.3.2(a), (b) & (c) of the Tender Notification dated 9.11.2018 in No. ADCL/TND/228 (published on 17.11.2018) issued by the General Manager-Development and Tender Inviting Authority, Dr.Ambedkar Development Corporation Ltd., (Respondent No.4) for the purposes of drilling of 165mm dia Borewells on 'No Water No Money Basis' across the state in about 60 packages. The petitioner has also sought for a direction to respondent Nos.1 to 4 to modify the Notification dated 9.11.2018 (for short, 'Tender Notification') and to issue fresh tender notification permitting the petitioner to participate in such fresh tender process. The impugned conditions 3.2(a), (b)&(c) of the Tender Notification read as follows:

(2.) Sri D. R. Ravi Shankar, the learned counsel for the petitioner, positioned his legal submissions in support of the prayer/s in the writ petition on the basis of the following assertions. The Tender Notification is issued for the purpose of providing Free Borewells to persons from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in their own lands to help them tide over water difficulties during summer. The authorities had issued tenders for similar purposes during the previous years, but the respondent No.4-the tendering authority insofar as the Tender Notification has deviated from the previous tenders on two significant counts viz, (i) in enlarging the size of each package and (ii) in prescribing the qualification for the tenderers to participate.

(3.) On previous occasions, the tenders were divided into smaller packages, and in fact, multiple packages with about 30 Borewells per package were prescribed for each assembly constituency. But in the present Tender Notification, two or more assembly constituencies have been combined into one package with each package involving drilling of approximately 350-400 Borewells. As regards the eligibility, as in previous tender notifications, the Tender Inviting Authority has prescribed that every tenderer/contractor should own a Borewell Drilling Rig and should have minimum two Borewell Drilling Rigs on lease with all the three Borewell Drilling Rigs being registered with Karnataka Groundwater Authority. However, as regards the qualification, there are material differences, and when seen in juxtaposition, the differences will be as follows: