JUDGMENT

1. Petitioner, claiming to be an ongoing contractor, is tapping the writ jurisdiction of this Court for assailing the Notification dtd. 10/1/2023 issued by the 2nd respondent at Annexure-G calling for e-Tender inter alia in respect of commercial complexes in the KSRTC bus stand at Hassan. The habendum of the said tender in colloquial reads as under:

2. Learned Senior Advocate appearing for the Petitioner seeks to falter the tender in question on the ground of force majeure namely COVID-19 Pandemic; the two Central Government Notifications dtd. 19/2/2020 and 13/5/2020 have the effect of elongating the twelve year contract period pro tanto; there is lapse on the part of respondents in discharging certain contractual obligations briefly stated in para 5 of the petition, despite representations; Petitioner had filed a few cases such as W.P.No.30258/2018, C.M.P No.233/2018, W.P.No.8992/2021, W.P.No.16705/2022 (respondents W.A.No.27/2023); bifurcation of subject matter of tender is unsustainable; impugned action defeats legitimate expectation; Petitioner has got right of extension of the contract; there being an ongoing arbitration, without its culmination into an award, the impu