Point of Law : Petitioner is not entitled to seek a direction to the respondent authorities to settle the Mining contract Area no. 1 in his favour just because he was the lone bidder and had emerged as the responsive one also since the tendering authority is well within its right to cancel the bidding process on the ground of difficulties.

JUDGMENT :

Both these writ petitions – W.P.[C] no. 2611/2016 and W.P.[C] no. 1966/2017 – have been preferred by the same petitioner in respect of a competitive bidding process initiated by a Notice Inviting Quotations dated 07.02.2014 [‘the 1st NIT, for convenience] in respect of two diversion areas [stone] viz. Kathalguri Stone Quarry Area no. 1 [B] and Kathalguri Stone Quarry Area no. 2 wherein the petitioner had emerged as the sole responsive bidder and the subsequent decision dated 02.01.2015 taken by the Divisional Forest Officer, Nagaon Division, Nagaon [‘the DFO, Nagaon’, for convenience] cancelling the entire process; and thereafter, publication of a subsequent Short Tender Notice for sale of Minor Minerals dated 17.03.2017 [‘the 2nd NIT’, for convenience] in respect of the same two Mining Contract Areas.

2. It may be mentioned that the Mining Contract Area named Kathalguri Stone Quarry Area no. 1 [B] has been renamed as Kathalguri Stone Mahal no. 1 [hereinafter referred to as ‘the Mining Contract Area no. 1, for convenience] at a later point of time and the name of the Mining Contract Area, Kathalguri Stone Quarry Area no. 2 has been changed to Kathalguri Stone Mahal no. 2 [hereinafter referred to as ‘the Mining Contract Area no. 2, for convenience].

3. By the 1st NIT, published in the newspapers on 19.02.2014, the DFO, Nagaon invited quotations from user agencies/individuals to submit their bids for processing of diversion proposals for operation of intended Diversion Areas [Stone] under the Nagaon Forest Division. The 1st NIT further stipulated that only the bid of the highest bidder above the Reserved Price mentioned against the particular Diversion Area, would be taken up for further processing of the diversion proposal for clearance under Section 2 of the Forest [Conservation] Act, 1980 r/w the Assam Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2013. The selected individuals/user agencies would be required to make payment of NPV, Royalty, Compensatory Afforestation charges, etc. and the same would form part of the compliance of conditions in processing the diversion proposal. In the 1st NIT, a number of Diversion Areas [Stone] were mentioned. The issues involved in these two writ petitions pertain to the Mining Contract Area no. 1 and the Mining Contract Area no. 2.

4. In response to the 1st NIT, the petitioner submitted his separate bids in respect of the Mining Contract Area no. 1 and the Mining Contract Area no. 2. The DFO, Nagaon after receipt of the bids from the participating bidders, evaluated them and prepared separate comparative statements in respect of the Mining Contract Area no. 1 and the Mining Contract Area no. 2. In respect of the Mining Contract Area no. 1, the petitioner was the sole bidder and the DFO, Nagaon found the bid of the petitioner to be a responsive one. In respect of the Mining Contract Area no. 2, a total of 3 [three] bidders participated but the DFO, Nagaon found the bid of the petitioner to be the only responsive one and the other two bids were declared to be non-responsive.

5. In respect of the Mining Contract Area no. 2, the DFO, Nagaon forwarded the matter along with the comparative statement to the Conservation of Forests, Northern Assam Circle, Tezpur for necessary action at his end by a letter dated 08.05.2014. Similarly, after preparing the comparative statement and observing other necessary formalities, the DFO, Nagaon forwarded the matter in respect of the Mining Contract Area no. 1 to the Conservator of Forests, Northern Assam Circle, Tezpur on 28.05.2014. It was indicated in the letter dated 08.05.2014 and the letter dated 28.05.2014 by the DFO, Nagaon that the petitioner had submitted all the required documents and earnest money deposits [EMDs] in the form of demand draft along with his bids. The Conservator of Forests, Northern Assam Circle, Tezpur had, in turn, forwarded the proposals for diversion of the Mining Contract Areas to the Chief Conservator of Forests [T], Upper Assam Zone,