SIBA PRASAD PADHI Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, a Special Class Contractor, seeks to challenge the decision of opposite party Nos. 1 to 4 date 21.1.2003 to award the contract work for execution of 'Improvement to Huma Tail Distributory from R. D. 00 K.M. to R. D. 8.00 K.M. including Piplipali Minor' mainly on.the ground that the said decision was tainted with extraneous considerations and was otherwise illegal and arbitrary.

(2.) ADMITTEDLY the Tender Call Notice (Annexure 1) was issued by the Executive Engineer, Hirakud N.W.M.P. Division, Bargarh inviting sealed tenders in the prescribed form to be eventually drawn in P.W.D. Form No. F2 from the Super Class and Special Class Contractors, registered under the Water Resources, Works or other Department of Government of Orissa for the aforesaid work along with other works as enlisted in the table contained in the said notice. The work in question appears at serial number 13 of the Tender Call Notice. The said Tender Call Notice was published in the Daily 'Samaj' dated 10.8.2002. In response to the said Notice Annexure 1, the petitioner along with three other Contractors submitted their respective tenders and performed all other paraphernalia stipulated in the Tender Call Notice. The tenders were opened in presence of the representatives of the tenderers on 20.9.2002. The respective prices quoted by the four tenderers were as follows :

(3.) OPPOSITE party No. 5 has also appeared in the case and has filed a detailed counter affidavit almost agreeing to the factual backdrop of the case. In para 5 of his counter affidavit, opposite party No. 5 has admitted that when he was requested to offer his willingness to reduce the quoted rate to bring the total amount within Rs. 77,84,008.00 i.e. the offer by the first lowest tenderer, he expressed his inability by his letter dated 2.12.2002. However after coming to know that the petitioner had agreed to execute the work at a negotiated rate of Rs. 98,22,766.00, he submitted a representation to Government/Hon'ble Minister, Water Resources Department to consider his case also as he was the second lowest tenderer.