JUDGMENT

Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, J. - The petitioner no.1 is a joint venture of two companies. It allegedly intended to participate in a tender dated August 2, 2018 for a contract to design and build sewage treatment plant and allied works in connection with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) project. The project was conceived and is being implemented nationwide, primarily with the funding of the World Bank.

2. The tender was a two-tier process, contemplating a prior technical bid and subsequent financial bid, to happen consecutively.

3. Prior to the technical bid being opened, the petitioner wrote to the respondents on September 29, 2020 (annexed at page-137 of the writ petition) requesting an amendment of the Minimum Qualifying Criteria (MQC) of the tender so that maximum number of bidders can participate in the bidding and for healthy competition. Such proposed amendment pertained primarily to the distance which was to be covered in the previous works of the bidders for the purpose of the pre-requisite past experience regarding similar projects.

4. The petitioner made several communications to the respondents on this count, indicating on November 27, 2020 (page-142 of