JUDGMENT

The petitioner is an A-class contractor engaged in road and irrigation projects for both the State and the Central Government. The challenge in this writ petition is against Ext.P3 decision of the special committee for pre-qualification for an approval of tenders and Ext.P5 decision taken by the special committee.

2. The facts that led to the filing of the writ petition are as follows:

2.1. As per Ext.P1 notification, the 1st respondent invited tenders for the work named, “Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)-WSS Chungathara to Pothukallu, Edakkara, and Vazhikadavu Grama Panchayaths in Malappuram District—Construction of I8 LL OHSR at Edakkara for Edakkara GP and Gravity main from WTP to this OHSR General Civil Work". The petitioner submitted a tender in response to the same, and the 5^th respondent herein was also a party that submitted a tender in response to the same. The last date for submission of the tender was 16.04.2025 as per Ext.P1, which was later extended upto 21.04.2025. As part of the tender process, the technical bids of the tenderers were opened on 24.02.2025, and during the evaluation of the same by the special committee constituted for the said purpose, it was found that