Ajay Kumar Mittal, J.

1. In this writ petition filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing respondents No.1 and 2 to take a decision in terms of the decision taken by the Council of Ministers in the Cabinet Meeting dated 25.2.2016 (Annexure P-4) and to direct respondent No.4 to strictly process the tenders through E-tendering process and as per the guidelines (Annexure P-10) approved by the Government of Punjab. Further, a writ of certiorari has been sought for quashing the communication dated 6.7.2016 issued by respondent No.3.

2. Put shortly, the facts necessary for adjudication of the instant petition as narrated therein may be noticed. The Council of Ministers, Punjab took a decision on 20.5.2015 to invite tenders for the construction and development of Grain Storage Silo Complex on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DEFOT) for storage of foodgrain on public private partnership. On 20.8.2015, respondent No.3-Punjab State Warehousing Corporation invited tenders, Annexure P-1, for the aforesaid purpose for seven locations, i.e. Machiwara, Banga, Ajnala, Nurmaha