ORDER

The present writ petition has been filed seeking the following reliefs:—

“(i) To issue a writ/order/direction in the nature of certiorari for quashing the letter no. 1894 dated 02.07.2021issued under the signature of the Engineer in Chief, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar, by which the petitioner no. 1 has been debarred along with others at serial no. 5 in relation to the work of Koreya to Chhathiyan for not completing the work within the time prescribed by the agreement (Annexure-2 pg.99).

(ii) To issue a writ/order/direction in the nature of certiorari for quashing the letter no. 1912 dated 05.07.2001 issued under the signature of the Engineer in Chief, Rural works Department, Government of Bihar, by which the petitioners no. 1 (Serial No. 24), petitioner no. 2 (Serial No. 15 & 23), Petitioner no. 3 (Serial No. 12, 16 & 17), Petitioner no. 4 (Serial No. 14), Petitioner No. 7 (Serial No. 13), Petitioner no. 10 (Serial No. 22), Petitioner no. 12 (Serial No. 28) and Petitioner no. 16 (Serial No. 27) have been debarred along with others for non-completion of the work within the time prescribed in the agreement. (Annexure-3, pg. 101).

(iii) To issue a writ/order/direction in the nature of certiorari for quashing the order no. 2037 dated 13.07.2001 issued under the signature of the Engineer in Chief, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar, by which the petitioners no. 1 (Serial No. 34, 48, 49 & 52), petitioner no. 5 (Serial No. 50), Petitioner no. 6 (Serial No. 56), Petitioner no. 8 (Serial No. 42), Petitioner No. 9 (Serial No. 29, 30, 55 & 58), Petitioner no. 11 (Serial No. 66), Petitioner no. 13 (Serial No. 41, 43, 44, 45 & 63), Petitioner no. 14 (Serial No. 68), petitioner no. 15 (Serial No. 57 & 65) and Petitioner no. 17 (Serial No. 39, 40, 62 & 64) have been debarred along with others for non-completion of the work within the time prescribed in the agreement. (Annexure-4, pg. 108).

(iv) To hold and declare that the impugned orders of debar passed without any show cause notice is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and as such not sustainable in the eyes of law and accordingly direct the respondents to immediately remove the name of the petitioners from the list of debar.

(v) To pass interim/ex-parte interim order staying the operation of letters no. 1894 dated 02.07.2021, letter no. 1912 dated 05.07.2021 and letter no. 2037 dated 13.07.2021 and/or permit the petitioners to participate in other tenders including the subsequent tender issued by the Rural Works Department, Bihar vide NIT No. RWD/PMGSYIII/ HQ/ET/21-22/10 in terms of which the last date of submission of the tender being 27.07.2021 upto 15:00 hrs. and/or direct the respondent authorities to consider the tenders/tender of the petitioners on merits in relation to the notice inviting tender issued subsequent to the impugned orders of debar.”

2. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioners had entered into various agreements on various dates with regard to repair of road as also maintenance thereof, as has been described in paragraph no. 4 of the writ petition. The learned counsel for the petitioners has further submitted that the petitioners had started the work in question and according to them they have completed most of the construction work in terms of the agreement and have also been engaging in the maintenance work. It is submitted that suddenly by the impugned orders dated 02.07.2021, 05.07.2021 and 13.07.2021, the petitioners have been debarred, from participating in future contracts on account of non-completion of the works in connection with the agreements mentioned therein i.e. in the chart appended to the aforesaid impugned orders. The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that a bare perusal of the impugned orders dated 02.07.2021, 05.07.2021 and 13.07.2021 would show that no show cause notice has been issued by the Engineer-in-Chief, Rural Works Department, Bihar, Patna, before pass