1. Heard Mr. I. Choudhury, learned Senior assisted by Mr. S. Biswakarma, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. P.J. Saikia, learned Senior assisted by Mr. R.K. Talukdar, learned counsel for the respondents.

2. The petitioners are aggrieved by the impugned debarment notice dated 23.01.2023 issued by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), by which the petitioners have been debarred for two years from participating in any future projects of the NHIDCL/MoRTH, either directly or indirectly in accordance with paragraph 3 (3) (a) & (e) of the MoRTH Circular dated 07.10.2021.

3. Mr. I. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are consultants/authority engineers, providing consultancy services for the contract work pertaining to “Four laning of Jhanjhi to Demow section from km 491.050 to km 535.250 and Demow to Bogibeel junction near Lapetkata section from kim 535.250 to km 581.700 of NH-37 in the State of Assam under SARDP-NE on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode” which was trifurcated into 3 (three) contracts.

4. The learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners submits that the d