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5. The petition came up for hearing before Mr. Justice Kania who called for the rules, if any, regarding blacklisting: framed by the D.G.S. & D. but the same were not made available. By his judgment and order dated January 12, 1973, the learned Judge set aside the impugned order. The appellants have challenged the said order in this appeal.

6. At our instance the learned Counsel for appellants produced a copy of Rule 285 regarding Blacklisting, Banning and Suspension of contracts from the Manual of Office Procedure for Supplies, Inspections and Disposals, 2nd edition, 1960 and a copy of the corresponding Rule 32 from the Manual (3rd edition, 1968). The learned Counsel for the appellants also produced at our instance rules of the Standard Code followed by D.G.S. & D. and stated that the Code was in force at the material time, i.e. December 1965. He further stated that a new Standard Code lias come into operation from September 14, 3971 and there were no separate rules regulating the procedure for blacklisting the names of suppliers so far as other departments of Government were concerned. By consent of parties Rule 285 and the copy of the Code are taken on record.

The learned Judge then proceeded to quote certain observations from the English cases in Reg. v. Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, ex parte Lain [1967] 2 Q.B. 864 881 and H.K. (An infant), In re [1967] 2 Q.B. 617, 630

14. The moot question, therefore, in the present ease resolves itself as to the true nature of the impugned order and its effect on respondents' rights, if any. As recorded in the office memorandum dated December 4, 1964, the said firm was blacklisted as per Clause 3(iii) of the Standard Code. It will be, therefore, convenient to refer to the relevant clauses of the Code. Clause (1) requires every department of Government to maintain an up to date list of approved suppliers after taking into consideration the financial standing of the firm, capacity, past performance etc., and states that there should be coordination between the D.G.S. & D. and other departments of Government of India with a view to the preparation of common list of suppliers. Clauses (2) and (3) provide respectively for the removal and blacklisting of suppliers from the list of approved suppliers. Clause (3), insofar as is material, is as follows: