Akshaya Kumar Swain … v. ….. Opposite Parties Mr. S.K. Mishra, Sr. Advocate Along with Ms. Mohanty, Advocate CORAM
Case Details
1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK W.P (C) No. 21735 of 2023 Akshaya Kumar Swain ….. Petitioner Dr. P. Chuli, Advocate State of Odisha & Ors. Vs. ….. Opposite Parties Mr. S.K. Mishra, Sr. Advocate Along with Ms. Mohanty, Advocate CORAM: DR. JUSTICE B.R. SARANGI MR. JUSTICE MURAHARI SRI RAMAN
Decision
ORDER 13.07.2023 Order No. 1 This matter is taken up through hybrid mode. 2. Heard Dr. P. Chuli, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr. S.K. Mishra, learned Senior Counsel along with Ms. Mohanty, learned counsel appearing for the opposite party- Corporation. 3. The petitioner has filed this writ petition seeking to quash the Order No.1477 dated 30.06.2023 under Annexure-8, by which opposite party no.4 has selected opposite party no.7 to execute agreement as Transport Contractor (Level-II) for the biennial 2023- 25 in respect of Mahkalpada block as well as Order No.1479 dated 30.06.2023, by which opposite party no.4 has cancelled the selection and appointment order of the petitioner as Level-II Transport Contractor for Pattamundai Municipality and Mahakalapara block. 4. Dr. P. Chuli, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that pursuant to tender invited by opposite party no.3, the petitioner participated in the tender process by submitting his bid and he was selected vide Annexure-4 dated 30.05.2023. 2 Accordingly, he was called upon to execute agreement with opposite party no.3 within 7 (seven) days with all required document and security norms as per tender document. But the same was not complied with. The petitioner was selected for Mahakalpara block and Pattamundai Municipality. Therefore, he is required to submit four vehicles independently requiring two vehicles for each station and, as such, he has already provided one vehicle, but could not be able to provide information about rest three vehicles within the time stipulated, i.e., seven days. Thereby, he requested the Collector-cum-Chairman, District Tender Committee, Kendrapara vide Annexure-7 dated 06.06.2023 to grant three days time for submission of documents of other vehicles towards execution of agreement. It is contended that in spite of such request, the Collector-cum-Chairman, District Tender Committee, Kendrapara vide impugned letter/order dated 30.06.2023 under Annexure-8 intimated opposite party no.7 to execute agreement as Transport Contractor (Level-II) for the biennial 2023-25 for Mahakalpara block. Therefore, the petitioner has approached this Court by filing this writ petition. 5. Mr. S.K. Mishra, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the opposite party-Corporation vehemently contended that the petitioner was appointed as Transport Contractor (Level-II) in respect of Mahakalpara block vide Annexure-4 dated 30.05.2023 with conditions that he will execute an agreement with opposite party no.3 within 7 days with all required documents and security norms as per tender document and when he did not comply with the same within the time stipulated, he requested opposite party no.4 to grant three days more time for submission of documents of other vehicles towards execution of agreement. Since the petitioner was selected for Mahakalpara block and Pattamundai Municipality, he had to provide four vehicles independently, i.e. two vehicles for 3 each station. It is contended that the petitioner, as admitted, in his grievance petition vide Annexure-7 dated 06.06.2023 that he deposited the required security money and the relevant document except supporting documents of the vehicles. Out of four nos. of vehicles, he submitted document of one vehicle and was unable to submit of three vehicles, for which he requested the Collector-cum- Chairman, District Tender Committee, Kendrapara for three days time to submit the documents of other vehicles towards execution of agreement. Though opposite party-authority waited for a quite long time, the petitioner could not be able to satisfy the requirement of the tender conditions by providing information about the rest three vehicles. Therefore, the Collector, Kendrapara vide order dated 30.06.2023 under Annexure-9 cancelled the appointment of the petitioner and issued intimation to opposite party no.7 for execution of agreement with opposite party no.3 within seven days with all required documents and security norms as per Tender documents. Thereby, the said order cannot be construed to be an illegal action of opposite party no.4. It is further contended that the cancellation of appointment order of the petitioner has been issued vide Order No.1479 dated 30.06.2023 and the appointment order issued in favour of opposite party no.7 vide Order No.1477 cannot be construed to be an error or illegal action of the authority rather it may be a mistake on the party of the authority. 6. Considering the contentions raised by learned counsel for the parties and after going through the records, this Court finds that pursuant to tender, the petitioner was selected as Level-II Transport Contractor for Pattamundai Municipality and Mahakalapara block for transportation of Customed mill rice from Rice Receiving centre to retail centre. Accordingly, he had to provide two separate vehicles for each place and, as such, he provided only one vehicle 4 within the time stipulated. Therefore, he sought three days time vide Annexure-7 dated 06.06.2023 for submission of the documents of other vehicles towards execution of agreement. But he did not comply with the same within the time nor he communicated the authority for the same. Nothing has been placed on record with regard to submission of required documents and security norms as per Tender documents. Opposite party no.4 waited for a long time and vide order dated 30.06.2023 under Annexure-9 cancelled the selection and appointment order of the petitioner as Level-II Transport Contractor for Pattamuindai Municipality and Mahakalapara block and vide Annexure-8 dated 30.06.2023 issued intimation to opposite party no.7 to execute agreement with opposite party no.3 within a period of seven days with all required documents and security norms as per Tender documents. Therefore, the authority has not committed any illegality or irregularity in the order dated 30.06.2023 under Annexure-9 cancelling the selection and appointment order of the petitioner as Level-II Transport Contractor for Pattamundai Municipality and Mahakalpara block and selecting and appointing opposite party no.7 as Level-II Transport Contractor under Annexure-8. 7. Accordingly, the writ petition merits no consideration and the same is dismissed. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: ALOK RANJAN SETHY Designation: Secretary Reason: Authentication Location: Orissa High Court Date: 13-Jul-2023 20:24:27 Alok (DR. B.R. SARANGI) JUDGE (M.S. RAMAN) JUDGE