1 CGHC010289542026 2026:CGHC:32525-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 3922 of 2026 M/s Offshore Infrastructures Limited Through Its Vice President Namely Mr. Mahendra Singh Rathore, S/o Govind Singh Aged About 55 Years Old, R/o Rawar, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Having Its Registered Office At 2nd Floor Block A, Sm-1b, Mansarovar Complex, M P Nagar, District Bhopal Madhya Pradesh ... Petitioner versus 1 - State of Chhattisgarh Through Its Secretary, Water Resources Department, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh 2 - Engineer-In-Chief Water Resources Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, Jal Sansadhan Bhawan, Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh 3 - Chief Engineer Mahanadi Project, Water Resources Department, Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh 4 - Executive Engineer Water Resources Division, Gariyaband, District Gariyaband Chhattisgarh ... Respondents _________________________________________________________ For Petitioner : Mr. Manoj Paranjpe, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Anshul Tiwari, Advocate For State/Respondents : Mr. Vivek Sharma, Advocate General Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal , Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice 29 . 07 .202 6 1. Heard Mr. Manoj Paranjpe, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Anshul Tiwari, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr.Vivek ROHIT KUMAR CHANDRA Digitally signed by ROHIT KUMAR CHANDRA 2 Sharma, learned Advocate General, appearing for the State/respondents. 2. The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking following reliefs :- “i. That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, preferably in the nature of Certiorari, quashing and setting aside Clause 1.3(b) of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) No. 01/SAC/2026-27 dated 13.05.2026, issued by the respondent Engineer-in-Chief, Water Resources Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, Raipur (Annexure P/1), insofar as it prescribes the requirement of an average annual turnover of not less than two times the estimated cost of the project, being arbitrary, irrational, unreasonable and violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. ii. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, preferably in the nature of Mandamus, directing the respondent authorities to suitably modify the impugned financial eligibility condition contained in Clause 1.3(b) by prescribing a reasonable, rational and proportionate financial eligibility criterion consistent with constitutional principles, established procurement norms and the tendering policy consistently followed by the Water Resources Department, Government of Chhattisgarh. iii. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, preferably in the nature of Certiorari, quashing and setting aside the proceedings/minutes of the Pre-Bid Conference dated 01.06.2026 (Annexure P/4), insofar as the respondent authorities arbitrarily rejected the objections raised by the prospective bidders against Clause 1.3(b) of the Notice Inviting Tender by merely recording that "the provision of the clause shall remain unchanged" without assigning any reasons or justification, being arbitrary, non-speaking, violative of the principles of fairness and transparency. iv. Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, preferably in the nature of Mandamus, directing the 3 respondent authorities to consider the technical bid of the petitioner in view of clause 1.3 (a) of the Notice Inviting Tender and without insisting clause 1.3 (b) of the tender, the petitioner may kindly be held to be technically eligible. v. Any other relief, which this Hon'ble court deems, fit in the facts and circumstances may also be granted in favour of the petitioner.” 3. At the outset, learned Senior Advocate, appearing for the petitioner submitted that he has filed the present petition on 23.07.2026 and on the same, the petitioner has been disqualified and thereafter, explanation was sought by the concerned Department, to which, though the petitioner has submitted the explanation, but in the meantime, financial bid has already been opened, as such, he wants to withdraw the instant petition with liberty to challenge his disqualification and opening of the financial bid. 4. Accordingly, the instant petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed for. Sd/- Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice Chandra