VIJAY BISHNOI,J. - (1.) Both these writ petitions have been filed by the petitioners-firms being aggrieved with the qualification requirements mentioned in the tender document (NIT) issued by the respondent - Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (for short 'the JdVVNL' hereinafter) inviting tenders from the eligible bidders for giving contract for operation and maintenance of 33/11 KV Sub-Stations identified, in respect of various sub-divisions of respective circles under Jodhpur Discom i.e. SE(O and M) JdVVNL, Sri Ganganagar. The qualification requirements as mentioned in the tender document read as under: "a. The Bidder should possess class "A/B" Electrical license issued by Electrical Inspectorate of any state Govt. or Central Govt. of India and is a qualified contractor who regularly undertakes the projects of the type specified and has adequate technical knowledge and practical experience. If the bidder owns a license other than Rajasthan state, then he will have to obtain it within one month from electrical inspectorate of Govt. of Rajasthan before commencement of the work in case he is selected for award failing which the contract awarded is likely to be cancelled. An undertaking to this effect is to be furnished along with bid. The registration should be valid from the date of start of the work and shall remain valid up to 30 days from the date of completion of contract period. i. the bidder should have at-least Three Years experience for operation and maintenance of 33/11 KV sub station and bidder having similar exposures in higher voltage class than 33 KV i.e. 66 KV, 132 KV and 220 KV etc. shall also be considered for Technical Evolution, during last five financial years from date of opening of Bid i.e. from 2012-13 to 2016-17 in any of the Discoms. ii. The Bidder should have minimum experience of three years for operation and Maintenance of GSS of 50% quantity of GSS for which bidder quoted in last five years. iii. The copies of the relevant detailed work orders should be enclosed regarding above work experience. iv. The 'G' Schedule/reports indicating various activities of works executed should also be enclosed along with satisfactorily work completion certificate issued by concerned officer not below the rank of Executive Engineer or equivalent in case of in any of the Discoms. b. The Bidder should have Minimum Annual Turnover (MAT) not less than 50% value of estimated cost of Tender/lot, for which bidder quoted, in any one year of last five financial years. In case a bidder is quoting for more than one Lot, Pre-qualification requirement shall be examined on the basis of sum of Lot requirements of MAT of all quoted Lot. Details of all lot are available at "Annexure-F". A CA Certified certificate is required for the same. c. The contractor should be registered with PF and ESI Department in case of notified area. The certificate may be produced prior to opening bid. d. The contractor should possess the valid license as provided under section 12 of the contract labour (R and A) Act 1970, an attested photocopy of which should be submitted by the Contractor. The work of Operation and Maintenance of GSS under the domain of Jodhpur Discom shall be one year initially. Nigam shall review same as per need and same can be extended for one more additional year."
(2.) The petitioners are aggrieved by the requirements mentioned in sub-clauses i and ii of clause 'a' and clause 'b' in particular. The main grounds of challenging the said conditions taken by the petitioners in these petitions are thus: (a) That no such conditions were ever incorporated by the respondents in the previous tenders. (b) That the Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited had floated identical tender for similar nature of work and in the tender process conducted by it, majority of the contractors had failed to meet the qualification requirements, which were similar to the qualification requirements, which are under challenge in these writ petitions and from this fact, it is clear that the said qualification requirement is illegal and is arbitrarily fixed by the respondent - JdVVNL. (c) That the respondent - JdVVNL did not float any tender during the period running between the year 2012 and 2017 regarding the same nature of work and, therefore, it is not possible for the contractors of the JdVVNL to meet the said qualification requirement. (d) That the said qualification requirement is fixed with intent to oust the petitioners-firms only. In support of the above, learned counsels for the petitioners have placed reliance on decision of M.P. High Court rendered in Dhar Cement Ltd. v. State of Madhya Pradesh Through Secretary; Ministry of Irrigation Govt. of Bhopal reported in 1993 AIR (MP) 251 . They have also placed reliance on decision of Bombay High Court rendered in Marathwada Radio Communication Systems v. General Manager, Telecom Department & Ors., reported in 2004 1 AIIMR 414 .
(3.) Heard learned counsels for the petitioners and perused the material available on record.;