IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.21298 of 2008 Between: 1 Md. Hafeezuddin, S/o.Ahed Moinuddin R/o.Khammam Town, Khammam District. 2 Bandi Venkateswara Rao, S/o.B.Satyanarayana Rao R/o.Khammam Town, Khammam District. 3 M.Simha Reddy, S/o.Sanga Reddy R/o.Khammam Town, Khammam District. 4 Bollepalli Satyanarayana, S/o.Anantaiah R/o.Khammam Town, Khammam District. 5 Thammisetti Venkata Narayana, S/o.Pitchaiah R/o.Khammam Town, Khammam District. 6 Kunchapu Venkateswarlu, S/o.Veeraswamy R/o.Khammam Town, Khammam District. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, by its Secretary, Municipal Administration Department , 2 The Director of Municipalities, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner, Khammam Municipality, Khammam, Khammam District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to To issue an appropriate Writ, Order or direction preferably one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the 3rd respodent in not following the "Common Standard Schedule Rates for the year 2008-09" prescribed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh while estimating the Cost of 118 works of 3rd respondent Municipality notified under e-procurement notification No.2530/08, dated 12-09-2008, as arbitrary, illegal and contrary to the instructions of the 1st respondent and set aside the same and consequently direct the 3rd respondent to revise the estimated costs of said 118 works and issue fresh e-procurement notification and pass such other order or orders in the interest of justice. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.J.KANAKAIAH Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR MUNCIPAL ADMN. & URBAN DEV. The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.21298 of 2008 ORDER: It is the case of the petitioners that they are registered municipal contractors in the 3rd respondent municipality and they have been attending to the regular works offered by the 3rd respondent Municipality by way of tender notifications. According to them, tender notification was issued on 25- 08-2008 and for the said works, Common Standard Schedule Rates of the year 2008-09, which came into effect from 01-06-2008, are applicable. But, however, as the 3rd respondent municipality is applying Common Standard Schedule Rates of the year 2007-08, the petitioners approached this court and filed the present writ petition seeking a Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 3rd respondent in not following Common Standard Schedule Rates of the year 2008-09 prescribed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, while estimating the cost of 118 works of the 3rd respondent Municipality, as illegal and arbitrary. A detailed counter affidavit is filed on behalf of the 3rd respondent stating that the works in question were notified and sanctioned prior to Common Standard Schedule Rates of the year 2008-09, which came into effect from 01-06-2008 and therefore, the Common Standard Schedule Rates of the year 2007-08 are applicable to the petitioners. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Standing Counsel for the 3rd respondent, this writ petition is disposed of at the stage of admission with the following direction:- “For the works, which were notified and sanctioned prior to 01- 06-2008, ‘Common Standard Schedule Rates’ of the year 2007- 08 shall alone be made applicable. But, however, if any works are notified or sanctioned subsequent to 01-06-2008, for those works, the common standard schedule rates for the year 2008- 09 shall be made applicable.” There shall be no order as to costs. ___________ 25-11-2008 Prv ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{JMR}