JUDGMENT :

Heard Mr. D. Das, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. T. Gohainbura, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. M. Kato, learned CGC appearing for the respondent Nos. 1 to 6 and Mr. S. Tapin, learned senior Govt. Advocate appearing for the respondent Nos. 7 and 8.

2. The facts of the case in brief may be noticed at the outset. The petitioner is a private limited company registered under the Company’s Act having its registered office at Paschim Colony, Naharlagun, Papum Pare District, Arunachal Pradesh. The respondent authorities issued a notice inviting ‘Expression of Interest’ from potential promoters for setting up Mega Food Parks to provide modern infrastructure facilities for the food processing in the uncovered States such as, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh. The same was issued by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India on 02.08.2017. It also stipulates that the willing investors/promoters may submit their proposals as per the Mega Food Park Scheme Guidelines dated 21.07.2016 and the proposal should be submitted on or before 4:00 PM on 18.09.2017 and that the proposal should be accompanied by an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of Rs. 10 lakhs.

3. The revised guidelines for Mega Food Parks Scheme (MFPS) which came into effect from 21.07.2016 and issued by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India aims to facilitate the establishment of a strong food processing industry backed by an efficient supply chain which would include collection centres, processing centres and cold chain infrastructures. The eligibility criteria of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) are provided under Clause 5.2 of the said guidelines which inter-alia, provides that the SPV will be a body corporate under the Companies Act apart from meeting the other criteria provided therein. It also provides that in response to the notice inviting Expression of Interest by the respondent authorities for selection of projects, a proposal for the proposed Mega Food Park will be submitted by the SPV and the points to be covered in the proposal along with the Expression of Interest is provided at Annexure-B of the said guidelines.

4. The guidelines further stipulates that there will be a Program Management Agency (PMA) to assist the implementation of the Scheme and the proposal submitted in response to the Expression of Interest will be evaluated by the PMA. The PMA will undertake evaluation on a scale of 100 points and the criteria for evaluation is provided at Annexure-C of the said guidelines. The PMA will place reports before the Technical Committee (TC) and the applicants will have to make presentation of their proposal before the TC. The TC will undertake independent evaluation on a scale of 50 points on the basis of presentation made by the applicants and such criteria for evaluation are provided in Annexure-D of the said guidelines.

5. The final evaluation report along with the recommendation of the TC will be placed before the Inter Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC) for consideration of the ‘In Principal Approval’ to the projects. The applicant who has been accorded ‘In Principal Approval’ will have to submit a Detail Project Report (DPR) and comply other necessary requirements within 4 (four) months of the date of the issue of ‘In Principal Approval’ unless extension of time is granted by the Ministry.

6. The guidelines dated 21.07.2016 also stipulates the role of the State Government, which amongst others are to monitor the implementation of the proposal, nominate a suitable Officer to be appointed as Ministry’s nominee Director in the SPV, provide external infrastructure like road, power etc.

7. The petitioner Company being eligible submitted its proposal on 18.09.2017, proposing to set up the Mega Food Park at Dolikoto village, Arunachal Pradesh along with all the necessary documents and information as required. Against the notice dated 02.08.2017, a total 10