P N SOMAN Vs. KERALA WATER AUTHORITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both the petitioners are Contractors who are aggrieved with the orders passed, forfeiting their EMD with respect to a tender invited by the Kerala Water Authority and blacklisting them.

(2.) The background facts and the documents can be referred from W.P.(C) No.34038/2011 since the issue in both writ petitions arise from the very same tender. The 1st respondent is the Kerala Water Authority, who is the implementing agency of the work carried out by the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), the 3rd respondent. The implementation was carried out of the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), for which the 3rd respondent is the Nodal Agency and the 4th respondent, the Monitoring Committee. The beneficiary is the 7th respondent, Municipality.

(3.) The works to be carried out in the 7th respondent Municipality under the UIDSSMT was notified by the Kerala Water Authority, to which notification the petitioners submitted tenders. The petitioners' were the only two tenders submitted to the specific work notified in the 7th respondent Municipality. On opening the tenders, it was found that the petitioners had quoted the very same amount. A negotiation was carried out by the Officers of the Kerala Water Authority. One among the petitioners agreed to reduce the quote by 1% and the other by 2%. The Minutes of the Tender Committee was placed before the 3rd respondent.