- 1 - VPH IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION No. 3184 OF 2009 Supri Advertisement & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. ..Petitioners Vs. Central Railway & Ors. ..Respondents Ms. Pooja Thorat i/b M/s. M. V. Kini & Co., for the Petitioners. Mr. T. J. Pnadian, for Respondent No.1. Mr. Shoaib I. Memon, for Respondent No.2. Mrs. S. V. Bharucha a/w N. R. Prajapati, for Respondent No.3. Ms. Sona Yusuf Bongwala i/b S. M. Gorwakar, for Respondent No.4. CORAM : D. D. SINHA & A. A. SAYED , JJ. DATED : FEBRUARY 2, 2010. P.C. : 1. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, respondent No.1, respondent No.2, respondent No.3 and respondent No.4. The grievance of the petitioners is in respect of issuance of letter of awarding the contract dated 4-12-2008 pertaining to erection of hoardings in - 2 - Koregaon Park area of Pune. It is brought to the notice of this Court that the period for which the contract was awarded has already come to an end on 22nd January 2010 and therefore, cause of action in our view no more survives. However, this Court, considering the nature of grievance raised by the petitioners, passed an order dated 12th January 2010 wherein it is expressed that all the public contracts must be awarded through the process of tender which is more transparent and fair procedure and results in better competition which also serves the public purpose. Respondent No.1 who was also asked to file an appropriate affidavit in this regard, has filed a further affidavit dated 27th January 2010 in this regard. The learned counsel for respondent submits that there are various sites in the whole city of Pune where hoardings are required to be erected, and in future it will be done by inviting the tenders. It is submitted that the tender process consists of various stages which are mentioned in the affidavit. The same reads thus- Sr. No. Stages Time duration days 1. Submitting the proposal to Vetting by the Divisional finance after attending the queries which may be raised. 15-30 days 2. Administrative Approval of DRM. 5-10 days - 3 - 3. Submission of proposal to HQ/CCM for obtaining FA & CAO’s concurrence. 20 days 4. Reply and modification in any queries raised by Headquarters. 15-30 days 5. Final approval by Headquarter/CCM 15 days 6. Giving advertisement of notification inviting tenders. 30 days. 7. Scrutiny of tender offer received and short listing the same and finalization of tender by tender committee & acceptance of the bids by the competent authority. 45 – 60 days 8. Issue of allotment letters to the successful bidders. 5 days 2. The learned counsel for the respondent No.1 has further stated that the proposals in respect of various sites, in order to fix the reserved price, were already submitted to the Divisional Manager (Finance) [Item No.1 in the Chart] on 18-1-2010. The said authority would take time between 15 to 30 days to fix/ finalize the reserved price for different sites. It is contended that after the reserved price is fixed, then the proposal would be forwarded for administrative approval and shall move accordingly, and after the entire process is over, the tender will be floated, bids will be invited and appropriate steps as per the - 4 - procedure of tender will be taken accordingly. 3. In the back-drop of the above referred facts, we hope and trust that respondent No.1 will finish the entire process as early as possible and float the tender inviting the bids and shall finalize the contract of allotment of hoarding sites. . With these observations, writ petition is disposed of. Sd/- [D. D. SINHA, J.] Sd/- [ A. A. SAYED, J.]