THE HON’BLE MR JUSTICE L. NARASIMHA REDDY Writ Petition No.13989 of 2010 ORDER: The Airports Authority of India, the 1st respondent herein, issued a tender notice dated 25-01-2010, inviting tenders for grant of licence for management of Car Parking Services, at the New Integrated Terminal Building, Visakhapatnam Airport. The licence was to be, for a period of five years. The 1st petitioner is a Trading Organisation, and the 2nd petitioner is its authorized representative. The 1st petitioner (for short ‘the petitioner’), the 3rd respondent and two others submitted their tenders. The 1st respondent, however, disqualified the petitioner and two others. It appears that the tender of the 3rd respondent alone was found to be in order, and the contract was awarded. The petitioner challenges the communication dated 13- 05-2010, through which, it was disqualified. The petitioner contends that it possessed the stipulated qualifications, and the impugned letter dated 13-05-2010 is not only untenable, but also is self-contradictory. It is stated that the bifurcation of the revenue for toll fee and parking collection was mentioned, and there was absolutely no ambiguity. It is also stated that, when the turnover, that is required under the tender condition, is Rs.16,18,000/-, there was no basis for the 1st respondent in rejecting the tender of the petitioner, whose turnover was Rs.1.86 crores, and substantial portion of it, was towards car parking collection. The 1st respondent filed a counter-affidavit, opposing the writ petition. It is stated that the principal requirements under the tender conditions are that, an agency should have at least one year experience in running a car parking contract, and that annual turnover of the agency must be, not less than Rs.16.8 lakhs, of which, at least half must be from similar business, viz., collection for car parking. It is further stated that the petitioner submitted an experience certificate pertaining to car parking contract for the years 2004-07, whereas the turnover was for a different period. It is also stated that it was only the tender of the 3rd respondent, that was found to be in order, and the contract has since been awarded. The 3rd respondent has also filed independent counter-affidavit, opposing the writ petition. Sri H. Srinivasa Rao, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, as against the experience in car parking contract of one year, the petitioner had the experience for three consecutive years with a reputed agency. He contends that though the required turnover was Rs.16.8 lakhs, the petitioner had turnover of Rs.1.8 crores. Learned counsel further submits that the 1st respondent was not clear in its mind, when it issued the impugned letter, disqualifying the petitioner. It is also stated that in the subsequent correspondence, the little ambiguity, that was perceived by the 1st respondent; was clarified. Sri Challa Kodanda Ram, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the 1st respondent, submits that the conditions in the tender notice are very clear, and the turnover of a tenderer must be, in relation to the same year, for which, the experience is claimed. He contends that there was absolutely no correlation between the experience of the petitioner, on the one hand, and the turnover, on the other hand. Smt.A. Chaya Devi, learned counsel for the 3rd respondent, has advanced arguments on the same lines. Four tenders were received, in response to a tender notice dated 25-01-2010. The eligibility criteria are prescribed in the tender notice. The relevant criteria read as under: “Eligibility Criteria: One year experience of running a Car Park contract with:- Government Department / Public Sector Department or 5 & 4 Star Hotel / Hospital / Municipal Corporation or Airport / Sea Port / Railways / Bus Terminals. (i). The parties should have an annual turnover of not less than Rs.16,80,000/- (Rupees Sixteen lakhs Eighty thousand only); (ii). Out of the above prescribed turnover, half the turnover should be from a similar business for which the tender is called and for which experience has been claimed; In order to assess the above, the parties should, therefore submit the Profit and Loss Accounts along with the schedule indicating the break up of their income from various sources separately. In the absence of details in Profit and Loss accounts/Separate schedule showing bifurcation of revenue, the details are to be submitted by the tenderer duly certified by a Chartered Accountant. Turnover during any financial year in the relevant period for which experience has been claimed shall be taken into account. For the purpose of experience of a tenderer, the last ten years from the date of publication of NIT shall only be considered”. From this, it becomes clear that a tenderer must have experience of at least one year in car parking contract, in a period of ten years from the date of publication of the tender notice, and that the turnover of the agency must be, not less than Rs.16,80,000/-. Clause (ii) is clear to the effect that half of the turnover must be from similar business, for which the tender is called for, and for which “experience has been claimed”. This clearly shows that the turnover must be, with reference to the period, during which, experience was claimed. The petitioner, no doubt, submitted an experience certificate, covering a period of three years from 2004-07. However, when it comes to the question of turnover, it was in relation to a different period altogether. It is true that the impugned letter dated 13-05-2010 was not happily worded. However, the intention of the 1st respondent was, to inform the petitioner, that the turnover and experience are not for one and the same period. Even before this Court, the petitioner is not able to overcome the said objection. Hence, no exception can be taken to the steps taken by the 1st respondent, in disqualifying the petitioner, or awarding the contract in favour of the 3rd respondent. The writ petition is therefore dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. _______________________ L. NARASIMHA REDDY, J. Dt.11-03-2011. KO