Single Judge Bench of Honorable Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal while hearing a petition titled Vinkal Sharma & Others VERSUS Union Territory of J&K & Others has set aside the Examination of J&K Police Sub-Inspector (JKPSI) and Junior Engineer (JE) Jal Shakhti Department conducted by JKSSB by observing in Para 74 of the Judgment that " Consequently, all the exams viz Junior Engineer-civil (Jal Shakti Department) and Sub Inspector (Home Department) held by respondent No.1 through respondent no. 2 in furtherance of the aforementioned “award of contract to conduct examinations” are also set aside/cancelled at whatever stage they are as on date."
In Para 43, The Court observed that "It is settled proposition of law that action of the State and its instrumentalities must have the nexus with the object sought to be achieved. In award of contract the public interest is paramount and there should be no arbitrariness in the matter of award of contract and all the participants in the tendering process should be treated alike."
In Para 45 it observed that "What was the reasonable nexus with the object sought to be achieved while altering the terms and conditions of the tendering document is not forthcoming from the record and the whole action on part of the SSB smacks foul play and contrary to public interest where career of thousands of the aspirants are at stake by awarding the contract to a tainted/blacklisted agency. Thus, the change of the conditions in the tender document by relaxing the standards by way of policy has no nexus with the object sought to be achieved, which is loathed with mala fide consideration."
In Para 46 of the Judgment the court held that "It is settled proposition of law that action of the State and its
instrumentalities must reflect an approach informed by reasons. I have gone through the record supplied by the SSB minutely and found that no reasons have been assigned while taking a decision to relax the terms and conditions of the tender document or issuing fresh NIT. Failure to give reason amounts to denial of justice. The reasons are live links between the mind of the decision taker to the controversy in question and the decision or conclusion arrived at. The reasons substitute subjectivity by objectivity. One of the salutary requirements of natural justice is to spelling out reasons for altering the decision."
In Para 61, the court further observed that "It is trite law that Article 14 of the Constitution applies to the matters of policy and if the policy or any action of the Government and its agencies in contractual matters fails to satisfy the test of reasonableness, it would be unconstitutional. The basic requirement of Article 14 is fairness in action of the State and its instrumentalities and non-arbitrariness in essence and substance is the heartbeat of fair play. Actions of the authorities like SSB are amenable in the panorama of judicial review only to the extent that the State and its agencies must act validly for a discernible reason, not whimsically for any ulterior motive."
And in Para 64 the Court held that "It is settled proposition of law that the State and its instrumentalities stand at a higher footing than a private party in contractual matters. The State or its instrumentalities cannot conduct themselves like ordinary businessmen playing games with others for monetary gains. State cannot behave like a man in the street and indulge in arm twisting tactics. Its conduct and actions have to be exemplary and decisions have to be free from bias and unreasonableness."
And lastly while concluding the Judgment, the court in Para 74 of the Judgment held that "Keeping in view the aforesaid peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and for the foregoing reasons, I am of the opinion that the process adopted /decision made by the awarding contract to Respondent No. 2 (M/s Aptech Limited) is malafide and change of condition in tender was intended to favour Respondent No.2 and these decisions will have an effect on public interest as the Respondent No. 2 has been assigned to conduct examinations, wherein the selectees will be appointed to hold public posts, accordingly this writ petition is allowed and the contract awarded by respondent No.1 in favour of respondent No.2 pursuant to e-NIT No.19 of 2022 dated 30.09.2022 for conduct of its various examinations through computer based tests mode is quashed. Consequently, all the exams viz Junior Engineer-civil (Jal Shakti Department) and Sub Inspector (Home Department) held by respondent No.1 through respondent no. 2 in furtherance of the aforementioned “award of contract to conduct examinations” are also set aside/cancelled at whatever stage they are as on date."
WP(C) No.2580/2022
Cav No.1569/2022
Jammu Bench
Tags:
Judgment