Meghalaya High Court
Shri. Uttam Saha vs . Union Of India & Ors. on 21 August, 2023
Author: H. S. Thangkhiew
Bench: H. S. Thangkhiew
Serial No. 01
Supplementary List I
HIGH COURT OF MEGHALAYA
AT SHILLONG
WP(C) No. 280 of 2023 Date of Order: 21.08.2023
Shri. Uttam Saha Vs. Union of India & Ors.
Coram:
Hon'ble Mr. Justice H. S. Thangkhiew, Judge
Appearance:
For the Petitioner/Appellant(s) : Mr. M.L. Nongpiur, Adv.
For the Respondent(s) : Mr. R. Debnath, CGC.
i) Whether approved for reporting in Yes/No
Law journals etc.:
ii) Whether approved for publication
in press: Yes/No
1. As the matter has been taken up on mention as an unlisted matter by the learned counsel for the petitioner. Mr. R. Debnath, learned CGC for the respondents prays that he may be allowed to obtain telephonic instructions by 2 PM.
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2. When the matter has been called out at 2:15 PM, Mr. R. Debnath, learned CGC for the respondents has apprised the Court that no positive instructions could be obtained, as he could not contact the concerned officers dealing with the matter.
3. In this view of the matter, based on the materials which are before this Court, the matter is taken up for consideration.
4. Heard Mr. M.L. Nongpiur, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. R. Debnath, learned CGC for the respondents, who has received notice on behalf of all the respondents.
5. The writ petitioner is aggrieved with an impugned letter dated 11 th August, 2023, whereby the writ petitioner has been informed about adverse remarks, which have been made against him for the quarter ending March, 2023 by the Office of the Joint Director (Contracts) for Chief Engineer, Eastern Command Engineers Branch. It has been submitted that the writ petitioner who is a contractor with the respondents for the past 18(eighteen) years was surprised with the contents of the said letter, inasmuch as, no show cause was issued to him as mandated by the Military Engineering Services (MES) Manual on Contracts, 2020, whereby at clause - 32.2(vii) and (viii), it has been provided that for quarterly Work Load Returns (WLR), show cause notices for proposed adverse remarks in work load returns shall be served by the Accepting Officer and a copy of the same 2 alongwith reply of the Contractors shall be enclosed for forwarding to the Chief Engineer Zone to the Chief Engineer Command.
6. It is submitted that it has also been stipulated that in the forwarding letter of the WLR to higher formation, there shall be specific mention that against the contractor, who has been adversely remarked, necessary show cause notices have been issued, replies received and analyzed before putting the adverse remark. None of the stipulations it is submitted has been adhered to, before the issuance of the impugned letter dated 11th August, 2023.
7. It has been further submitted that because of the impugned letter, the successful participation of the writ petitioner in future contracts has been seriously jeopardized and infact, certain tenders which the writ petitioner is intent on submitting, the bids thereof are closing as on today and tomorrow.
8. It is therefore prayed by the learned counsel for the petitioner that in the interim, the adverse remarks may not be taken into account, at the time of consideration of any future bids that the writ petitioner may tender for.
9. Mr. R. Debnath, learned CGC for the respondents in the absence of instructions, however submits that the writ petitioner is already saddled with a number of works in the department and as such, appears to be over burdened to undertake any future or additional work. However, he submits that he may be allowed to get detailed instructions within 1(one) week. 3
10. Having heard the learned counsel for the writ petitioner and also examining the materials on record, it is seen that the Military Engineering Services (MES) Manual on Contracts, 2020, at Paragraph - 33.2, under the heading Quarterly workload returns (WLR) (Annexure P-2, Part I & II) has provided as follows.
"Quarterly workload returns (WLR) (Annexure P-2, Part I & II):
(vii) Show cause notices for proposed adverse remarks in work load returns shall be served by the Accepting Officer of Contracts latest by 10th of the last month of the quarter and copy of the same alongwith reply of Contractors shall be enclosed with WLR by GE/CWE, while forwarding report to CE Zone, and by CE Zone to CE Command.
(viii) In the forwarding letter of the WLR to higher formation, there shall be specific mention that against the contractor who have then adversely remarked, necessary Show Cause Notices (SCNs) have been issued to the contractors, replies received from contractors and replies analysed before putting the adverse remark."
11. As the stipulation as contained in the provisions of the Manual as quoted above, prima facie appears to have not been adhered to, while issuing the impugned letter dated 11th August, 2023, it is provided in the interim that the said letter, including the letter dated 27th July, 2023, as far 4 as the writ petitioner is concerned, as indicated in Serial No. 140 shall be kept in abeyance and not taken into account in the consideration of any bids submitted by the writ petitioner till the next date.
12. Accordingly, list this matter on 1st September, 2023 in the motion column.
Judge Meghalaya 21.08.2023 "D.Thabah-PS"
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