JUDGMENT :

The extra ordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution had been invoked by the petitioner challenging the letter dated 24.04.2017 issued under Office Memo No.APDCL/CGM(RE)/DDUGJY/Gen-Corres/CAD/2015-16/187 by the Chief General Manager (RE), APDCL as regards forfeiture of Bank Guarantee of the petitioner; for setting aside and quashing the impugned letter dated 25.04.2017 issued under Office Memo No.APDCL/CGM(RE)/DDUGJY/DDU/II/Hills/2016-17/79 by the Chief General Manager (RE), APDCL to the Allahabad Bank for invocation of Bank Guarantee No.0177416IPG000074 dated 04.08.2016 (for short, ‘the Bank Guarantee in question’) of the petitioner as well as for a direction upon the APDCL Authorities to forebear from invoking the said Bank Guarantee in question.

2. The facts involved in the instant case as can be discerned from the pleadings and the materials on records is that an Invitation for Bids was issued by the Chief General Manager (RE), of the Respondent No.1 for execution of projects, i.e. electrification works (BEI) of unelectrified villages of 20 districts in Assam under Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Phase-II on behalf of the Government of