The main legal point established in the judgment is the need for a Larger Bench to consider the applicability of the previous judgments, the entitlement of the petitioners under the IPRs and MSMED Act, and the possibility of granting relief to the petitioners.

JUDGMENT :

B.R. SARANGI, J.

The petitioners in W.P.(C) No. 11817 of 2016 are the proprietors of small binding units covered under the definition of “micro industries” under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (for short “MSMED Act”), whereas the petitioners in W.P.(C) No.12427 of 2016 are the cover printers and text printers registered under the District Industries Centers and carry on their business, as small scale industries defined under the Industrial Policy Resolution, 1980 and subsequent Resolutions passed by the State Authority, by availing the benefits thereof. In the present writ applications, the petitioners seek to assail the tender call notice no.3150 dated 09.06.2016 issued by the Director, Textbook Production and Marketing, Bhubaneswar for “Printing and Binding of Nationalized Textbooks for the academic session 2017-18”.

2. In these two writ petitions, the selfsame tender call notice, referred to above, being the subject-matter of challenge and grounds of challenge being substantively common, both of them have been tagged together and taken up for hearing. However, for just and proper adjudication, the facts of W.P.(C) No. 11817 of 2016 have been referred to.

3. In the State of Odisha, there are as many as 5000 printing presses and binding units, which are set up under the approval of respective District Industries Centres (for short “DICs”) under the Industrial Policy framed by the Industries Department, Government of Odisha. Thereby, they are all coming under “small scale industries” as per Industrial Policy Resolution, 1980 (for short “IPR, 1980”) and its amendment made from time to time by the Government of Odisha. The respective proprietors, as per the schemes, have modernized their printing and binding units by installing modern equipments by incurring huge loans from different banks as well as non-banking organizations. Most of them are technicians, skilled and unskilled labourers, who are maintaining their livelihood from the printing and binding work of nationalized text book. A large number of skilled workers/labourers are being engaged in such type of micro industries so as to earn their livelihood. In fact, the purpose of the MSMED Act is to aid such industries. Under IPR, 1980 several incentives were given to small scale industries with an avowed objective that such units would get marketing support and also price preference for their survival. The State Government has been issuing such policies to ensure that local products are co-effective and meet overall quantity requirement for competitiveness.

As per IPR, 1989, the products manufactured by the local small scale industries and units are required to be purchased by the Government Department on rate contract basis and efforts will be made to bring down cost and to achieve over all competitiveness of the products of local industries, so that they will be eligible for the facility of preferential purchase by State Government. Under IPR 2007, which came into force w.e.f 02.03.2007, laying down marketing support to MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) in Government procurement, para 11 provides for rehabilitation and revival of sick units, for which the intention behind the 2007 IPR is clear to the extent that it can never cause sickness to a running unit. Similarly, IPR 2015 has been recently published, wherein under Clause-10 it has been provided to make rules extending marketing support to small scale industries to be brought in alignment with the MSMED Act, 2006 and Orissa MSME Development Policy, 2009. The State Government in adherence to the aforesaid policy continued to procure the nationalized text books from the small scale industrial (SSI) units of the State at least for not less than 18 years facilitating to allow near about 70,000 workers to maintain their livelihood. But, all of a sudden, opposite party no.1, deviating from the general procurement policy of the Government, vide Resolution dated 25.08.2009, deci