JUDGMENT

Subramonium Prasad, J. The instant writ petition has been filed under Article 226 seeking directions to the Respondent to process and open the Petitioner's bid already available with the Respondent with respect to the Notice Inviting Offer (NIO) dated 10.06.2021 issued by the Respondent for "The Development of Small Oil & Gas Fields in India under Discovered Small Field Policy", Bid Round-III (2021).

2. The facts, in brief, leading to the instant petition are as under:

a) It is stated that an NIO was issued on 10.06.2021 by the Respondent with respect to "The Development of Small Oil & Gas Fields in India under Discovered Small Field Policy", Bid Round-III (2021). The original date of bid submission was 29.10.2021 at 12:00 hours, but the same was extended and revised to 31.05.2022 at 12:00 hours. As the bid was to be submitted in a single-stage two-envelope methodology, the technical bid (comprising of bidder information) was to be submitted both online as well as with a hard copy (as per Section 3, point XII of the NIO), and the financial bid was to be submitted only via the online portal.

b) Clause IV of the NIO lays down the Bid Qualifying Criteria. The same has been repr