ORDER :

1. This Writ Petition is filed by the petitioner questioning their disqualification as a bidder for the work of Mechanization of WQ 7 & 8 berths in the respondent Port Trust and to issue a consequential relief.

2. This Court has heard Sri P. Veera Reddy, learned senior counsel for the petitioner and Sri Raviteja Padiri, learned standing counsel for Visakhapatnam Port Trust

PETITIONER’S SUBMISSIONS:

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is aggrieved by the action of the respondent dated 17.12.2021 and the disqualification of the petitioners bid on the sole ground that the bid was not filed “online” and was filed physically only.

4. Learned senior counsel submits that the petitioner participated in a bid for mechanization of WQ 7 and 8 berths. They had purchased the documents (RFQ) on 11.11.2021. They submitted their bid on 30.11.2021. According to the petitioner they were required to submit the bid in the physical form along with a soft copy of all the documents. The case of the petitioner is that they had physically submitted their bid complete in all respects on 30.11.2021. During the course of meeting for opening of bids, they were informed that the