JUDGMENT :

1. The petitioner has challenged the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) dated August 26, 2020, floated by the respondent-authorities for deployment of maintenance teams for maintenance of Optical Fibre Cable Network. The date stipulated for seeking clarification regarding NIT was September 4, 2020 (12 noon to 2.00 pm), the bid submission was to start on September 10, 2020 and end on September 24, 2020 at 2.00 pm.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner, allegedly an intending bidder, contends that although the petitioner sought for certain clarifications regarding certain terms of the tender notice by a letter dated September 3, 2020, the reply thereto, given by the respondent-authorities, did not carry any such clarification worth the name. Subsequently, the present writ petition was affirmed on September 18, 2020 and filed before the last date of submitting bids.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner argues that the petitioner is entitled to challenge the NIT even without having participated in the tender process, since the petitioner, being a prospective bidder, has challenged the legality and constitutionality of several terms of the tender documents itself which, according to