Government procurement processes must adhere to statutory guidelines to ensure transparency and public trust, particularly in contracts involving national heritage.

JUDGMENT

G.S. Sistani, J. The petitioner claims to be a non-profit agency engaged in the field of disaster management since its incorporation in the year 2013 as a Trust. The petitioner foundation comprises of a committed group of individuals dedicated in the field of disaster management. It is claimed that through years of study and research, dedicated hard work, qualified personnel and unblemished work record, the petitioner has emerged as one of the premier agencies working in the field of disaster management in India. The organizer has published books on the various aspects of disaster management, has organized various programs in the field of disaster management through its training and capacity building programmes, worked with more than 300 schools, 55 colleges, 2 universities, 200 branches of 10 banks, 83 NGOs, 20 hotels, 10 cinema halls, 15 hospitals, 12 religious places of worship including Saket Court. One Shri R.N. Singh, who is associated with this organizer claims to have experience and expertise in the field of disaster management. He has carved out his name in the field of disaster management and has authored a book.

2. In this Writ Petition, Ministry of Culture has been arrayed as respondent no.1,the National Museum as respondent no.2 and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage has been arrayed as respondent no.3. It is the case of the petitioner that an agency was appointed and selected by respondent no 1 for the preparation of a Disaster Management Plan for the National Museum without adopting or formulating any selection criteria and without issuing any advertisement or an Invitation for Expression of Interest, which has led to the filing of the present writ petition.

3. It is averred that respondents no.1 and 2 have awarded the allocation of the work/project to respondent No. 3 in complete violation and disregard to established practice. It is pointed out that the Central Government in recognition of the importance of disaster management as a national priority, set up a High Powered Committee (HPC) in August, 1999. Subsequently, a National Committee was also set up after the Gujarat earthquake for making recommendations on the preparation of disaster management plans and suggesting effective mitigation mechanisms. Thereafter, on 23.12.2005, the Government of India enacted the Disaster Management Act, 2005. This Act envisaged the creation of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) headed by Hon'ble Prime Minister and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs), which was headed by the respective Chief Ministers to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to the disaster management in India.

4. It has been highlighted by the counsel for the petitioner that on account of various national disasters, both natural and manmade, there has been extensive damage to life and property. Various museums, which are the repositories of the diverse heritage of the nation were also extensively damaged. Collections of Sri Raja Pratap Singh Museum, Srinagar, were extensively damaged in the floods of 2014. In 2016, many rare artefacts in the national museum for Natural History, New Delhi were gutted in a massive fire. At the global level, the Nepal earthquake in 2015 caused extensive damage to the Chhauni National Museum, Kathmandu. In the floods of 201