TOLANI PROJECTS PVT. LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioner, in these proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution, is aggrieved by the rejection of its technical bid for two contract areas in respect of discovered oil fields [being Contract Area - CB/ ONDSF/Vadtal/2018 ("Vadtal") and contract KG/ONDSF/Gokarnapuram ("Gokarnapuram")]. These were pursuant to a notice, inviting interested parties to bid (issued by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons-the second respondent, hereafter referred to as "DG"). These were pursuant to the DG formulated policy for the development and monetization of the discovered small oilfields. The petitioner complains that the rejection of its bid was arbitrary.

(2.) The facts briefly are that sometime in January, 2018, the DG issued the notice inviting offers (NIO) in question. This is apparently pursuant to the Central Government driven policy reforms in the Upstream Hydrocarbon Energy and Petroleum sector to optimize and increase domestic production of oil and gas. The Marginal Field Policy (MFP) was notified on 14th October, 2015 to monetize marginal fields of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) under nomination regime which remained undeveloped for a long period of time. The policy was subsequently renamed as Discovered Small Field (DSF). The Central Government was of the view that the DSF needed extension for fast-track monetization of unmonetized small fields / discoveries of ONGC and OIL under the nomination regime and the relinquished discoveries under the PSC regime which remained un-monetized. The NIO called for offers from eligible parties.

(3.) The NIO contained the eligibility and evaluation criteria, the material parts of which are reproduced below: