JUDGMENT :

CHAKRADHARI SHARAN SINGH, J.

As both the cases arise out of the same Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) No. BMSICL/Infra/25/2019 dated 17.07.2019 for construction of 191 bedded hospital in the campus of Amar Shaheed Jagdev Prasad Hospital, Jehanabad, published by the Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited, Patna (in short ‘ BMSICL’) and are based on the identical set of facts, they have been heard together and are being disposed of by the present common judgment and order.

2. It is noted at the outset that the petitioner of C.W.J.C. No. 12949 of 2021 has intervened in C.W.J.C. No. 8134 of 2021 and has been permitted to be impleaded as the party-respondent No. 7.

3. C.W.J.C. No. 8134 of 2021 has been filed by M/s B. Rai Construction Company and INSCPL (JV), a joint venture through the leading Partner and Managing Partner of M/s B. Rai Construction Company.

4. C.W.J.C. No. 12949 of 2021 has been filed by the Director of R.S. Agrawal Infratech Pvt. Ltd., Jharkhand.

5. For convenience, the petitioner of C.W.J.C. No. 8134 of 2021 has been referred to in the present judgment as the petitioner; and the petitioner of C.W.J.C. No. 12949 of 2021 as respondent No. 7. This judgment follows the party position as obtained from C.W.J.C. No. 8134 of 2021.

6. Before going into the issues, which have arisen in these cases on the basis of pleadings and other materials available on record and the rival submissions made on behalf of the parties, it would be apposite to notice certain basic undisputed facts.

7. The BMSICL issued a notice inviting tender on 17.07.2019 for construction of the hospital in question, the last date of submission of the bid being 27.08.2019. The tender committee opened the technical bid on 11.05.2020, in which the petitioner and respondent No.7 were found responsive and technically successful. The financial bid was thereafter opened on 09.12.2020, upon which the petitioner was declared L-1/the lowest-bidder. Before issuance of Letter of Acceptance (LoA) of the bid in favour of the petitioner, the BMSICL received a complaint to the effect that one of the parties of the JV, namely, M/s B. Rai Construction Company, was under an order of debarment from entering into contract and, therefore, the petitioner suffered disqualification from participating in the tender process. After having received the said complaint, the said Company, namely, M/s B. Rai Construction Company, was put to a show-cause notice through a letter dated 22.12.2020 asking it to explain its position for further action. The representative of the said M/s B. Rai Construction Company filed its explanation on 23.12.2020 asserting that the order whereby the said Company was allegedly debarred by the Executive Engineer, Building Division, Sasaram, was for the first time uploaded on 18.03.2020 and, therefore, it had no knowledge about passing of the order of debarment.

8. In respect of the said order of debarment, it has been asserted by the petitioner in the writ petition that a construction work of State Polytechnic College, Dehri-on-Sone was awarded to the M/s B. Rai Construction Company, which it had completed and handed over to the concerned Executive Engineer long back. However, the Executive Engineer had issued an order dated 03.07.2019 debarring the petitioner from award of future contract till completion of construction of the building of the said State Polytechnic College. Once the order was uploaded on 18.03.2020 on the website of the Department, the petitioner filed an application before the Chief Engineer (North), Building Construction Department, asserting that the said order of debarment was never communicated and requested to release the petitioner from debarment. It is the petitioner’s case that before issuance of the debarment order dated 03.07.2019, no notice was given to him and, therefore, in any view of the matter, the said order of debarment is non-est in the eyes of law and in breach of the rules laying down the procedure