SH. TEK CHAND Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners seek quashing of the Tender Notice dtd. 4/9/2018 (Annexure P-4), issued by the Food Corporation of India, Regional Office, Shimla, inviting tenders for Security Services to Food Corporation of India's property and personnel in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The petitioners also seek a writ of mandamus for their preference against the Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment engagement as Security Personnel on the plea that they have earlier served as Security Guards in Food Corporation of India through the Private Security Agency, as is evident from the .

(2.) Shorn of the details, the case of the petitioners' is that they were engaged on contractual basis as Security Guards through a Contractor at Food Corporation of India, Depot Kala Amb, District Sirmour. They served for different periods, the details whereof is given in Para-2 of the writ petition. To substantiate their plea, the petitioners have appended Experience Certificates (Annexures P-1 and P-2), which suggest that some Private Security Agencies had engaged the petitioners as Security Guards for their deployment at Food Corporation of India Depot. It further appears from the averments that the Food Corporation of India decided to enter into a New Contract with the Security Agencies, for which fresh tenders were invited vide Annexure P-4.

(3.) The Food Corporation of India in its written statement has taken a preliminary objection that there has been no relationship of the employer and employees between the petitioners and the Food Corporation of India, as at no point of time the petitioners were engaged by the Food Corporation of India. It is explained that petitioners may have remained on the rolls of any private agency but that does not create any obligation on the Food Corporation of India to compel the New Security Agency to engage them. It is also explained that the Food Corporation of India had issued guidelines for recruitment of Watchmen and Security Guards and it has been decided to engage 103 Watchmen by outsourcing, for which the impugned tender was floated.