M/S Rongjali Enterprise and Anr v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 24.11.2023

¶1The instant writ petition has been filed by the Petitioners challenging the Notice Inviting Tender bearing No.DFDO/BTC/CHR/145/PMMSY/2023-24/183 dated 15.09.2023 as well as tender No.DFDO/BTC/CHR/145/PMMSY/2023-24/184 dated 15.09.2023 on the ground that the said tenders have been issued to violating the provisions of the Assam Public Procurement Rules, 2020 framed under the Assam Public Procurement Act, 2017 which mandates that no procurement entity shall divide or bulk its procurement after bids have been Page No.# 3/4 invited for the purpose, under any circumstances and violation thereof shall be deemed as willful dereliction of duty constituting grave misconduct under the Conduct Rules.

¶2This Court vide an order dated 19.10.2023 issued notice and as an interim measure directed that the Respondent Authorities may proceed to process the bids received in response to the NIQs dated 05.09.2023 but shall not finalize the processes without the leave of the Court.

¶3Today, when the matter has been listed, Mr. P. Sarma, the learned Standing counsel appearing on behalf of the Fishery Department has placed before this Court an order dated 22.11.2023 issued by the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Fishery Department wherein it has been mentioned that the irregularity as regards splitting the total tender value exceeding Rs.20,00,000/- instead of going for e-tendering as per the O.M vide eCF No.31119 dated 09.06.2023 issued by the Finance Department in connection with procurement of materials under PMMSY have been rectified and all District Fishery Development Officers have been directed to withdraw/cancel any such SNIQ, if already issued in case of the total tender value is Rs.20,00,000/- and above and resort to e-tendering in compliance of the order/direction of the Finance Department vide OM dated 09.06.2023.

¶4The learned Standing counsel appearing on behalf of the Fishery Department therefore submitted that in view of the said order dated 22.11.2023 issued by the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Fishery Department the impugned tenders have been withdrawn and the Respondent Authorities would be taking effecting steps for initiating process for e-tendering as per the OM vide eCF No.31119 dated 09.06.2023. Page No.# 4/4

¶5Taking into account the above submissions, as the tenders which have been impugned in the instant case have been withdrawn by the concerned Respondent Authorities, nothing further remains to be decided in the instant case for which the instant writ petition has become infructuous and accordingly stands closed.

¶6Be that as it may, this Court however directs the Respondent Authorities to comply with its order dated 22.11.2023 issued by the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Fishery Department as well as also the OM vide eCF No.31119 dated 09.06.2023 issued by the Finance Department.

¶7The order dated 22.11.2023 is kept on record and marked with the letter "X".

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010244392023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6313/2023o M/SoRONGJALIoENTERPRISEoANDoANRo REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoPROPRIETOR,oSMT.oSANGITAoBORO,oHAVINGoITSo PLACEoOFoBUSINESSoAToWARDoNO.o10,oGARCHUKoROAD,oVILL.-o GARCHUK,oGUWAHATI,oKAMRUP(M),oPIN-o781035. 2:oSANGITAoBORO oD/O-oLATEoKANAKoBORO oWARDoNO.o10 oGARCHUKoROAD oVILL.-oGARCHUK oGUWAHATI oKAMRUP(M) oPIN-o781035o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o FISHERYoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGHY-781006,oDISPUR,oKAMRUP(M),o ASSAM 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGHY-781006 oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM 3:THEoSECRETARY oFISHERYoDEPARTMENT oD-BLOCK oJANATAoBHAWANo DISPUR oGHY-781006 Page No.# 2/4 KAMRUP(M) ASSAM 4:THE DISTRICT FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (DFDO) CHIRANG ASSAM DIST. KAMRUP(M) PIN- 783385. 5:DISTRICT/STATE NODAL OFFICER ASSAM PMMSY GUWAHATI-16 ASSAM 6:THE SR. FINANCIAL ADVISOR (SR. FA)/FINANCIAL ADVISOR DIRECTORATE FISHERIES GOVT. OF ASSAM GHY-16 For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. S. Sarma, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr. P. Sarma, Standing Counsel BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH