Gauhati High Court Tractor And Farm Equipment Ltd. vs Secretary To The Govt. Of Assam, Dept. Of ... on 22 January, 2004 Equivalent citations: AIR2004GAU73, AIR 2004 GAUHATI 73, (2004) 2 GAU LR 56 (2004) 1 GAU LT 117, (2004) 1 GAU LT 117 JUDGMENT I.A. Ansari, J. 1. When a lis is brought or a proceeding is instituted in a Court of law, desirable it is that the Court, unless the law indicates otherwise, decides the maintainability of such a lis/proceeding. Howsoever, appealing may be the case of the party bringing the matter before the Court, the Court shall, keeping its mind completely disabused from the impression that it might have formed on the merit of the case, decide the question of maintainability. If the Court finds that the proceeding is not maintainable, the proceeding must terminate without carrying out any exercise to determine the merit or otherwise of the respective cases of the parties concerned and/or ' the question as to what reliefs the parties are entitled to. This rule is, however, subject to certain exceptions, one of such exceptions being that if the proceeding cannot progress on account of omission to implead the necessary party, the Court shall give an opportunity to the person, who approaches the Court, to implead the necessary party and if, even after being afforded with such an opportunity, the person, who approached the Court, does not implead the party concerned, the proceeding must end in dismissal. Such is the scenario, which this writ appeal depicts. 2. What is the law regarding immunity from judicial process in India? Is the immunity, in India, given to foreign sovereign, diplomats, etc. including international organizations, associations or bodies involving foreign sovereign unrestricted and unqualified? Is it, in any way, different from what the law, in this regard, in England is, though we have largely followed the AngloSaxon principles of law? Is it essential for being impleaded in a proceeding under Article 226 of the Constitution of India that the person sought to be impleaded as a party is a person or authority or State within the meaning of Article 226? Can a writ application be maintained, wherein it seeks, in effect, relief against a person, who is not a State, authority or person within the meaning of Article 226 or against a person, who is immune to the judicial process in India? Does Article 12 impose any limitation upon, or circumscribes the scope of, even the powers of the High Court under Article 226? Is the International Development Association, which is an organ of the World Bank, amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 226? These are the vital issues, which the present appeal has raised. 3. Challenge, in this writ appeal, is to the findings of the learned single Judge reached in the judgment and order, dated 27102003, passed in WP (C) No. 5620/ 2003 (reported in 2003 (3) Gauhati LT 555), that the World Bank is a necessary party and since the writ petitioner has insisted on not making the World Bank a party to the writ petition, the writ petition cannot proceed and must fail. 4. Shorn off the long and circuitous pleadings and vast mass of materials available, on record, before this Court, what surfaces as the material facts leading to this appeal may be summarized as follows : (i) The present dispute relates to the award of contract for supply of 449 tractors to the Agriculture Department, Government of Assam, to be procured by the Government on fund being made available to it, on credit, by the International Development Association (hereinafter referred to as "the IDA"), popularly known as the "World Bank", under a tripartite agreement, commonly known as Development Credit and Project Agreement, the parties to the agreement being the Government of India, Government of Assam and the IDA, the project having been conceived for the benefit of a group of small and marginal farmers of the State of Assam to whom there tractors were to be distributed through Field Management Committees with farmers' share therein being to the extent of 50% of the cost of the tractors. The Agriculture Department, Govt. of Assam, through the Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services Project (hereinafter referred to as "the ARIASP") initiated an International Competitive Bidding (in short "ICB") for procurement of 898 numbers of Pneumatic Wheeled Agricultural tractors with accessories by publishing, on 1222003, a Notice Inviting Tender (hereinafter referred to as "the NIT") issued by the Chief Engineer, Agriculture Department, Government of Assam. By a subsequent corrigendum, the NIT was amended by bifurcating the entire bid into two parts for 449 sets of tractors each, instead of 898 sets earlier announced, fixing the bid security at Rs. 2.25 million of each schedule as the IDA agreed, for the time being, to finance the proposed procurement of 449 tractors only. The date of openi