JUDGMENT :

The petitioner has instituted the writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking inter alia setting aside and quashing of an work order bearing no. CE[H]/TB/YRS/SA[Central]/2022/19 dated 25.03.2022 [hereinafter referred to as ‘the Work Order’, for short] whereby a Contract-Work, described in detail hereinbelow, has been awarded in favour of the respondent no. 6 herein and also for a direction to the State respondents to issue a fresh Notice Inviting Tender [NIT] for the said Contract-Work.

2. The events which, according to the petitioner, have led the petitioner to institute the writ petition can be stated as follows :-

2.1. The petitioner, M/s Naga Builders & Suppliers [also referred to as ‘the petitioner firm’ hereinafter at places, for convenience] is a proprietorship firm based at Dimapur, Nagaland. The petitioner firm has stated that it carries out supplies and works contracts all over the State of Nagaland. The petitioner firm has claimed that it is a duly registered Class – I Government Contractor & Supplier with registration no. NPW/Class-I/1040. It has further asserted that its registration under the Goods and Services Tax [GST] regime is 13CSDPS0015E3ZB.

2.2. In the month of May, 2022, the petitioner had come to learn that the respondent no. 6 had been awarded the Contract-Work relating to construction of pre-fabricated indoor stadiums and/or pre-fabricated indoor stadiums-cum-multipurpose halls at six different places in Nagaland. On making queries, it had further come to learn that the said Contract-Work under the Department of Youth Resources & Sports [YSR], Government of Nagaland was awarded to the respondent no. 6 by the implementing agency, Public Works Department [Housing], Government of Nagaland without circulating/publishing any Notice Inviting Tender [NIT] in newspapers. The Contract-Work had been awarded to the respondent no. 6 without giving any opportunity to the other eligible contractors including the petitioner, to participate in the tender process.

2.3. In order to get the details, the petitioner submitted an application under the Right to Information [RTI] Act, 2005 on 16.05.2022 before the Public Information Officer [P.I.O.] of the office of the respondent no. 5. The P.I.O. of the office of the respondent no. 5 supplied the necessary information to the petitioner on 02.06.2022. From the information so received, the petitioner got convinced that the NIT was not published in the local media but it was only issued in the Departmental notice board. Only 3 [three] bidders submitted their bids in response to the NIT and the tender papers were opened on 23.03.2022. A comparative statement was prepared and thereafter, the respondent no. 6 was recommended to execute the Contract-Work. Accordingly, the Work Order [supra] was issued in favour of the respondent no. 6 at a Contract Value of Rs. 20,38,85,600/-on 25.03.2022.

2.4. By making the above contentions, the petitioner has instituted this writ petition on 06.06.2022.

3. When the writ petition was moved on 07.06.2022, notices were issued to the respondents making the notices returnable in 4 [four] weeks. It was further provided that till the returnable date, the respondents shall not take any further steps towards construction of the stadiums given in the Work Order. Aggrieved by the interim order dated 07.06.2022, the respondent no. 6 who has been awarded the Contract-Work, preferred an interlocutory application, I.A.[Civil] no. 83/2022 seeking modification/alteration/vacation of the interim order dated 07.06.2022. The said interlocutory application, I.A.[Civil] no. 83/2022 came to be considered on 21.06.2022 and after hearing the learned counsel for the parties and considering the materials placed on record, the interim order dated 07.06.2022 was vacated and the interlocutory application, I.A.[Civil] no. 83/2022 was accordin