HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY W.P.No.17585 of 2011 Date : 21-11-2011 Between: M/s. Varunya Constructions, a Joint Venture with M/s. Coastal Consolidated Structures Pvt.Ltd. represented by Y. Venkateswara Rao, Kazipet, Warangal District. .. Petitioner And The Chief Engineer/Civil/Thermal, APGENCO, Vidyuth Soudha, Hyderabad and others .. Respondents Counsel for the petitioner : Sri M.R.K. Chowdary for Sri P.V. Mahesh Counsel for the respondents : Sri C. Raghu The Court made the following: ORDER: At the Interlocutory stage, the Writ Petition is taken up for hearing and disposal with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. This Writ Petition is filed for quashing proceedings No.CE/C/T/KTPP/F Coal Shed/D.No.150/11, dated 13-6- 2011, whereby the petitioner-consortium has been blacklisted by respondent No.1. The main ground on which the above mentioned proceedings is assailed is that the same is not preceded by a notice and an opportunity of being heard to the petitioner. In the detailed counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents, they have sought to justify the order blacklisting the petitioner on the ground of negligence on its part. However, the respondents have not disputed the fact that no opportunity was given to the petitioner before the impugned order was passed. The law is well settled that since the decision to blacklist a contractor leads to serious adverse consequences, he is entitled to be put on notice before such a decision is taken. (S e e : Erusian Equipment & Chemicals Limited v. State of West Bengal[1] and Raghunath Thakur v. State of Bihar[2]). In view of this settled legal position, the impugned order, which is admittedly passed without prior notice, is quashed. Liberty is however given to the respondents to take appropriate action in accordance with law. The Writ Petition is accordingly allowed. As a sequel, interim order dated 24-6-2011 is vacated and WPMP Nos.21153, 21154, 29882, 32409 of 2011 and WVMP No.3240/2011 are disposed of as infructuous. ________________________ Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy Date : 21-11-2011 AM [1] AIR 1975 SC 266 [2] AIR 1989 SC 620