1. The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India raises the questions relating to validity of tender process floated by Public Sector undertakings and calls upon this court to examine the process followed by the Respondents and to adjudicate upon the same while exercising powers of Judicial review available under the constitution and thereby seeking interference of this court by way of

appropriate writ.

2. The writ petition is filed for issuance of writ of mandamus and certiorari or any other appropriate direction seeking the production of the records of tender for Dahej ± Vijaipur Pipeline Upgradation project and declaring the action of the respondents in inviting the fresh financial bids vide letter dated 8.6.2009, as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, and to quash the letter bearing No. GAIL/ND/C&P/PRJ/DVPL-II/08-41/01, dated 08.06.2009, and consequently to direct the respondents to process the case of petitioner for award of contract and to pass such other suitable orders.

FACTUAL MATRIX:

3. Brief factual matrix of the matter can be enunciated and summarised as under :

4. The Petitioner is the company incorporated under the companies Act, 1956 and is the manufacturer of pipes. It is one of the bidder amongst the other in the Dahej-Vijaipur Pipeline Upgradation project as per the bids invited on 6.12.2008. The Respondent no. 1 is Union of India and Respondent no. 2 is GAIL (India ) Limited is the government of India undertaking on whose behalf tenders were invited for by one Tratebel S.A. (T.E). The respondents are thus amenable to the jurisdiction of this court.

5. The advertisement for floating of tender was issued on 6th December 2008 in the issue of The Times of India inviting the bids

through the e-tendering process on international competitive bidding basis for Carbon Steel Bare Line Pipes for Dahej- Vijaipur Pipeline Upgradation project. Pursuant to the said advertisement, the petitioner submitted its bid after examining the tender document online and the bid was submitted online on 28.1.2009.

6. The petitioner was found to be qualified after the evaluation of the technical bids. Accordingly, as per the next steps, the price bids were opened on 24.3.2009 enlisting the qualified bidders and the position which emerged can be tabulated as under:

7. The bid submitted by the petitioner was valid upto 28.4.2009 and the extension was sought on behalf of the Respondent no. 2 vide letter dated 17.4.2009 seeking extension of time on the ground that the bid of the petitioner is under active consideration and finalisation of the

Item No. L-1 L-2 L-3

1. Jindal SAW Rs.19095 (=$ 378.49) Man Industries $ 486.49 Welspun $ 500.49

2. Man Industries $ 593.88 Jindal SAW ($ 602.68) Ratnamani $ 616.35

3.1 Man Industries $ 736.31 Jindal SAW ($ 747.13) Welspun $ 772.47

3.2 Man Industries $ 442.43 Jindal SAW ($ 448.75) Welspun $ 464.12

order will take some time. The said extension was duly granted by the petitioner vide its letter dated 8th May 2009.

8. The petitioner on 1st and 2nd June 2009 came across the news published in the newspaper regarding the Respondent no. 2 is considering of re-tendering of Dahej- Vijaypur Pipeline Upgradation project in the news clipping and statements by the official of the Respondent no. 2. The petitioner after going through the said consideration wrote the communication dated 5th June, 2009 explaining the position and their take on the reduction of steel price, which according to the petitioner, the respondent was aware of and asking the respondent to grant the order at the earliest.

9. The petitioner received the impugned letter No. GAIL/ND/C&P/PRJ/DVPL-II/08-41/01dated 8.6.2009 whereby the respondent no. 3 conveyed their decision to invite fresh bids in view of the reduction of the steel prices and called upon the petitioner to submits its best quotes on tendering portal by 10th June 2009. The petitioner has therefore ch