JANDIAL PRINTING PRESS Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Director, Directorate of Distance Education, Jammu University, Jammu, herein respondent No. 3, has, vide Tender Inviting Notice (NIT) No. DDE/Pub/13/463 dated 1-7-2013, called tenders from Publishers/Content Developers for writing and printing study material in Self Learning Material (SLM) format for M.A. Political Science and M.A. Economics run by the University of Jammu through Distance Education Mode for the year 2013-14. Among others, one of the pre-qualification criteria for taking part in the bid is that "the annual turnover of the bidders should not be less than 5 crore for the year ending 31-3-2013."

(2.) Feeling aggrieved of the above mentioned pre-qualification, petitioners, who claim to be the printers running their respective Printing Presses in Jammu City and around, have filed this writ petition for issue of a writ in the nature of Certiorari to quash the NIT and writ in the nature of mandamus to direct respondents to allow the petitioners to participate in the tender process by excluding the pre-qualification criteria and to restrain the respondents from proceeding and acting upon the impugned tender inviting notice.

(3.) Petitioners have assauled the NIT contending that the respondents have fixed the annual turnover limit arbitrarily and in an unfair manner with a mala fide intention of ousting/depriving the petitioners from taking part in the tender process knowing that the furnover limit so fixed cannot be fulfilled by the petitioners.