BRAITHWAITE AND CO. LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition is filed, inter alia, to declare the order of the 4th respondent - Chief Project Manager, East Coast Railways, Waltair, in terminating the contract of "Major Up-gradation of Visakhapatnam Railway Station of East Coast Railway on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode as arbitrary, illegal, without power or authority and suffers from total non-application of mind and in violation of Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India and to consequently set aside the same.

(2.) The relevant facts, as per the affidavit filed in support of the Writ Petition, are, in brief, set out as under:

(3.) The 2nd respondent-The Rail Land Development Authority issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) vide RFP Notice dtd. 14/6/2022, inviting proposals through e-tendering on single stage two cover bidding system from interested eligible bidders as per the conditions of bid documents for "Major UP-Gradation of Visakhapatnam Railway Station of East Coast Railway on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Mode". M/s. Braithwaite and Co. Ltd., (A Government of India Undertaking), whose administrative control was taken over by the Ministry of Railways from Ministry of Heavy Industries on 6/8/2010 and M/s. Cognition Projects Pvt. Ltd., formed a consortium called M/s. Braithwaite and Co. Ltd., and M/s. Cognition Projects Pvt. Ltd., (Consortium) - M/s Braithwaite and Co. Ltd., as the lead member of the said consortium, participated in the tender process and emerged as selected bidder. Accordingly, a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) was issued on 14/9/2022 specifying that the period of the construction is 36 months from the Appointed Date. The petitioner in terms of the LoA furnished Performance Security of Rs.11,66,73,024.00 on 7/10/2022 and thereafter the 2nd respondent, on behalf of Her Majesty, the President of India, entered into EPC Agreement No.RLDA/2022/CA-04 with the petitioner Consortium on 15/11/2022.