THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO :12239 of 2010 Date: 2.6.2010 Between: Sri Durga Bhavani Boatsmen and Sand Loading and Unloading Labour Contract Cooperative Society Ltd. ..... PETITIONER AND The Govt.of Andhra Pradesh, Industries & Commerce Department rep. By its Secretary, Hyderabad and others. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioner : Andapalli Sanjeev Kumar Counsel for the Respondent Nos. 1 to 5 : G.P. for Mines & Geology Counsel for the Respondent No.6 : Sri K. Raghava Reddy The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No :12239 of 2010 ORDER: The unsuccessful tenderer for grant of sand quarry in respect of sand reach situated at Amaravathi Mandal, Krishna river, filed the present writ petition with a peculiar plea that by permitting Respondent No.6, in whose favour, the sand lease has been granted to transport sand through three additional ramps situated in Krishna District, the petitioner’s interests are affected. I have heard Sri Andapalli Sajeev Kumar for the petitioner, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Respondents 1 to 5 and Sri K. Raghuveer Reddy for respondent No. 6. The petitioner is a boatsmen and sand loading and unloading labour contract cooperative society, whose area of operation is confined to Vijayawada. Respondent No.6 is a similar society, whose area of operations extend to Amaravathi Mandal. The official respondents have notified several sand reaches for auction vide notice dated 5.3.2010. Amaravathi is one of such sand reaches. Admittedly, Respondent No.6 is the local society, which is entitled to preference over all other societies and tenderers, subject to its willingness to pay 90% of the highest amount offered by any of the other tenderers participating in the auction. The petitioner offered Rs.8,80,0,000/- and an individual tenderer has offered Rs.9,00,00,000/-. As the 6th respondent happened to be the local society, it was offered contract at 90% of the highest offer of Rs.9.00 crores. Accordingly, it has accepted the said offer and entered into lease agreement with the official respondents for carrying on sand quarry operations for a period of two years. The grievance of the petitioner is that as against six ramps, through which Respondent No.6 is entitled to transport sand, respondent No.4 has permitted Respondent No.6 to use three additional ramps situated in Krishna District. According to the petitioner, had it known that such a facility will be made available to a lessee after finalization of tender process, it would have offered more amount. In my considered view, this plea has absolutely no legal basis. Once the petitioner failed to get his tender accepted, it has lost its locus to question the sanction of three additional ramps in favour of the successful tenderer, i.e., Respondent No.6. Its plea that it would have got sand lease in its favour by offering more amount if he had known that the lessee would be permitted to use additional ramps falls in the realm of hypothesis because this plea proceeds on the assumption that if the petitioner had offered higher amount, respondent No.6 would not have been prepared to accept the sand lease at such a higher amount. Even on merits, I do not find any substance in the plea of the petitioner that sanctioning of three additional ramps is contrary to the General Conditions and the Statutory Rules. A perusal of the tender notice shows that the number of ramps in respect of any of the reaches notified therein is not indicated. Condition No.1 of the tender notice specifically envisages that the lessee is entitled to excavate sand only in the areas, which are indicated by the Director of Ground Water Department and transport the excavated sand through ramps notified in accordance with Rule 9-N of the A.P. Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1966 (For short ’ the Rules’). Learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on letter dated 29.1.2010 addressed by the Executive Engineer, Krishna Central, Vijayawada to the Assistant Director of Mines and Geology, Guntur, wherein it is stated that in respect of Amaravathi reach, six ramps are in existence. Under Rule 9-N, the lessee is entitled to make use of the authorised ramps and paths for transportation of sand from the quarry and not entitled to open any new ramps or paths. The said Rule further provides that any new ramps can be permitted by the concerned Assistant Director of Mines and Geology after following the procedure stipulated therein. In my opinion, there is no basis for the petitioner’s plea that Respondent No.6 cannot be permitted to use ramps which were not notified by the time of commencement of tender process. Neither the tender Conditions nor Rule 9-N place any fetters on the power of the Assistant Director to permit the lessee to use additional ramps over and above the ramps which were already notified and in existence at the time of issuance of tender notice. In this view of the matter, the plea of the petitioner that it was under the impression that the lessee would not be permitted to use additional ramps after grant of lease and therefore keeping in view existence of six ramps only within the Amaravathi Mandal limits, it has offered only Rs.8,00,00,000/- does not appear to have any legal basis whatsoever. In the absence of any restrictions placed on permitting the lessee to use additional ramps, I do not find any illegality in Respondent No.4 permitting Respondent No.6 to use the additional ramps. Further I do not find any basis in the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that Respondent No.4 has no authority to permit Respondent No.6 to use additional ramps outside Amaravathi Mandal. Neither the tender Conditions nor the extant Rules, restrict the lessee to use ramps only within a particular Mandal or area, while such restrictions certainly do exist for the purpose of excavation of sand. For the above mentioned reasons, the writ petition is wholly meritless and the same is accordingly dismissed. No costs. __________________________ C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY,J DATE: 2nd June, 2010 pnb