- (1.) THE writ petitioner in this proceeding questions cancellation of a contract awarded to him in pursuance of a tender process for leasing space of 23 tonnes in a parcel van in train no. 18646/18645 (East Coast express, which train also seems to be known as Hyderabad Shalimar express, Ex HYB -SHM -HYB) on round trip basis.
(2.) THE petitioner had put in certain conditions in the tender form, which was furnished by the petitioner in response to the Tender Notice dated 26th July 2012. He was required to withdraw these conditions by the railway authorities and the petitioner also withdrew those conditions subsequently. The petitioner claims to have had been offered the contract for lease after withdrawing these conditions, on account of his bid being the highest among the eligible bidders. The letter of offer was issued on 14th December, 2012. The petitioner accepted the offer by writing a letter to the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager South Central Railway, and the petitioner was asked to commence loading by a further communication dated 22nd January, 2013. By another communication dated 29th January, 2013, the petitioner's contract was cancelled on the allegation of failure on his part in commencing the contract and for violation of clause 7B of the terms of the tender form. The said communication also specified that his Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) was also being forfeited. In this letter of cancellation, the petitioner was also informed that repeated failure to start loading after award of contract or for repeated violation of the existing stipulations leads to cancellation of registration including debarring from fresh registration for a period of 5 years as per clause No. O '12' of the tender condition and clause K -15 of Comprehensive Parcel Leasing Policy.
(3.) CLAUSE 7 of the tender form stipulates: - "Earnest Money Deposit shall be liable for forfeiture without prejudice to any other rights or remedies, if the tenderer; a) Withdraws the offer before finalizing the leasing process by the Railways, b) Fails to execute the contract documents and commence loading within 14(fourteen) days after the receipt of advice of acceptance issued by the Railways." In this proceeding, the petitioner questions the said decision of cancellation of the contract as being arbitrary. Case of the petitioner is that the petitioner being registered as Category A Leaseholder had performed his obligation all along but in this case for reasons beyond his control he could not commence the leasing operation. Also challenged in this Writ petition is the decision of the Railway authorities to issue a fresh tender notice for the same space in the same train on 30th January 2013. Forfeiture of earnest money of the petitioner has also been assailed as being illegal in this writ petition.;