Mukesh Kumar Sharma v. North East Frontier Railway and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 24-03-2023 Heard Mr. R. Sarmah, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. K. Gogoi, learned Central Government Counsel for all the respondents.

¶2The subject-matter of this writ petition is E-auction process held under the aegis of the respondent N.F. Railway authorities for scrap and other waste materials, pursuant to an E-auction notice. The E-auctions were stated to have been held on different dates, that is, on 07.02.2020, 28.02.2022 & 07.03.2022 under the respondent no. 5. The petitioner participated in the E-auction and Page No.# 3/5 emerged successful in respect of 4 [four] nos. of Lots. On being emerged as the successful bidder, the petitioner was issued the following Bid Sheets for lifting of auctioned items from the locations located under Guwahati division :-

¶1Lot No. M-NGC-09-2019-RL-003 under Bid Sheet No. 30795398 dated

07.02.2020,

¶2Lot No. SSE-NGC-STORE-COND-20-12 under Bid Sheet No. 39707250 dated 28.02.2022,

¶3Lot No. M-GHY-06-2021-RL-001 under Bid Sheet No. 39788555 dated

07.03.2022,

¶4Lot No. M-GHY-07-2021-RL-002 under Bid Sheet No. 39784929 dated

07.03.2022.

¶3After deposit of the requisite Balance Sale Values [BSVs] and completion of the requisite formalities for the Lots, the petitioner was issued 4 [four] nos. of Sale Release Orders [SROs], dated 13.02.2020, dated 07.03.2022, dated

22.03.2022 & dated 22.03.2022 respectively. It is not in dispute that as per the SROs, the Free Delivery Periods [FDPs] were up to 27.03.2020, 18.04.2022,

25.04.2022 & 25.04.2022 respectively.

¶4It is projected on behalf of the petitioners that due to reasons beyond his control, he could not lift the auctioned scrap materials in respect of the afore-mentioned 4 [four] nos. of Lots. Envisaging the same, the petitioner submitted representations before the respondent no. 5 on 17.03.2020, 23.04.2022,

11.05.2022 & 06.06.2022, with a prayer to extend the delivery period. It is projected that the petitioner had stated the reasons as to why he could not lift the auctioned scrap materials in time in respect of the 4 [four] nos. of Lots. Page No.# 4/5 When the matter rested there despite lapse of sufficient time period without any discernible action from the respondent N.F. Railway authorities on the representations filed by the petitioner, the petitioner has approached this Court by this writ petition seeking inter alia a direction to the respondent authorities to extend the period of delivery/lifting of the scrap materials for the Lots in respect of which the petitioner has emerged as the successful bidder in the E-auction process.

¶5The learned counsel for the parties have, in unison, submitted that as the representations of the petitioner seeking extension of the delivery period are pending before the competent authority without consideration till date, the writ petition can be disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities, more particularly, the respondent no. 4 in consultation with the respondent no. 5 to take the representations of the petitioner on board and after due consideration, to dispose of the same by passing a speaking order.

¶6As the learned counsel for the parties have arrived at a broad consensus in the afore-stated manner, this Court is of the considered view that instead of keeping this writ petition pending, the same can be disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities, more particularly, the respondent no. 4 to take the afore-mentioned representations of the petitioner on board for consideration and after due consideration of the grounds urged in the representations in consultation with the respondent no. 5, to dispose of the same by passing a speaking order within a period of 4 [four] weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order along with a copy of the writ petition with annexures. It is accordingly directed. It is, however, made clear that this Court has not made any observations as regards the merits of the claim of the petitioner and Page No.# 5/5 the respondent authorities shall consider the representations on its own merits and in accordance with law.

¶7This order disposes of the writ petition.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010169682022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:ooWP(C)/5588/2022 MUKESHoKUMARoSHARMA PROPRIETORoOFoSHYAMoSUNDERoMUKESHoKUMARoHAVINGoITSoOFFICEoAT JYOTIKUCHI oLOKHRAoROAD oGUWAHATI-o781018 oDIST.oKAMRUPo(M) oASSAM oVERSUS NORTHoEASToFRONTIERoRAILWAYoANDo7oORS MALIGAONoGUWAHATIo REP.oBYoITSoGENERALoMANAGER oN.F.oRAILWAYoHEADoQUARTER oMALIGAON oGUWAHATIo-o781011 2:THEoGENERALoMANAGER N.F.oRAILWAYoHEADoQUARTER oMALIGAON oGUWAHATIo-o781011 o3:THEoCONTROLLERoOFoSTOREoN.F.oRAILWAY HEADoQUARTERoGUWAHATI-o781011 oKAMRUPo(M) oASSAM o4:THEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoMATERIALoMANAGER N.F.oRAILWAYoHEADoQUARTER oGUWAHATI-781011 oKAMRUPo(M) oASSAM o5:THEoDEPUTYoCHIEFoMATERIALoMANAGER Page No.# 2/5 N.F. RAILWAY PANDU GUWAHATI - 781012 6:THE DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGER GUWAHATI DIVISION N.F. RAILWAY GUWAHATI ASSAM 7:THE SENIOR SECTION ENGINEER PWAY NGC GUWAHATI ASSAM 8:THE SENIOR SECTION ENGINEER PWAY GHY GUWAHATI ASSAM ------------ Advocate for : MR. K M KAKOTI Advocate for : SC NF RLY appearing for NORTH EAST FRONTIER RAILWAY AND 7 ORS BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY