The court emphasized the need for government institutions to act fairly and reasonably, and to treat all contractors equally in the award of contracts, in accordance with the guidelines and principles.

Kh. Nobin Singh, J.

Heard Shri Ajoy Pebam, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner; Shri M. Hemchandra, the learned Senior Advocate assisted by Shri Th. Roson, the learned counsels for the respondent Nos. 2 & 3 and Ms. Joan N. Kipgen, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of Shri S. Rupachandra, the learned ASG for the private respondent.

2. By this writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for issuing a writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ to quash and set aside the Letter of Acceptance dated 19-11-2016 and the Work Order dated 15-04-2017 issued by the respondent No. 2 in respect of the Package No. MNO 555 of PMGSY Phase-X.

3.1 According to the petitioner, he is the Proprietor of a registered firm called M/S Manikchand & Co., Kwakeithel Mayaikoibi, Imphal and he is also an approved Special Class Contractor. With a view to redress the situation as regards the connectivity of roads, the Government of India launched a scheme called the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to provide all weather access to unconnected habitations. For the effective and purposeful implementation of the said scheme, the Manipur State Rural Roads Development Agency (hereinafter referred to as "the Development Agency") is assigned the task of supervising the implementation of the said scheme as a Nodal/Implementing Agency.

3.2 The Chief Engineer (MSRRDA), Government of Manipur issued 1st NIT dated 20-10-2014 inviting item rate tender through e-procurement for PMGSY Phase-X from amongst the eligible contractors for various contract works including Package No. MNO 555 with its tender estimated cost of Rs. 3,05,33,569/- (Rupees three crore five lakh thirty three thousand five hundred and sixty nine) and in response thereto, two contractors participated and when the technical bid was opened, only one contractor was found to be eligible for financial bid which necessitated the Chief Engineer (MSRRDA), Govt. of Manipur to issue 2nd NIT dated 27-12-2014 inviting item rate tender from eligible contractors. This time, three contractors participated in the tender process and after the financial bid being opened, the following contractors were found to be ranked as under:-

Sl. No.	Bidders Name	Amount (Rs.)	Bid Rank
1	Md. Nashir Shah	2,16,77,437.83	L1
2	Chingakham Rajen Singh	2,23,20,901.62	L2
3	M/S N. Kumar Meitei	3,05,33,569.25	L3

When their bid amounts were converted into percentage, the following rates/percentage were obtained by the bidders:-

Sl. No.	Bidders Name	Bid Rank
1	Md. Nashir Shah	-29.01%
2	Chingakham Rajen Singh	-26.90%
3	M/S N. Kumar Meitei	0.00%

3.3 The Tender Committee fixed the maximum bench mark/cut-off percentage for the 2nd NIT date 27-12-2014 as -30% for Stage-I which is meant for the new construction and -25% for Stage-II which is meant for the up-gradation of work. On seeing the outcome of the financial bid that the bids of the contractors were beyond the bench mark/cut-off percentage, the Chief Engineer (MSRRDA), Government of Manipur cancelled the tender process in respect of Package No. MNO 555 and accordingly, he issued 3rd NIT dated 18-01-2016 as the 2nd re-tender inviting item rate tender from eligible contractors in respect of the said package. The petitioner being eligible for the tender, participated in the said 3rd NIT dated 18-01-2016 for the said package. After the financial bid being opened, the petitioner was found to be ranked at L4 while the private respondent at L1. After their bids having been converted into percentage, the following rates/percentage were found to be obtained by the bidders:-

Sl. No.	Bidders Name	Amount (Rs.)