M/S New India Traders Th Umesh Mahajan v. Union of India Th Engineer in Chief Military Engineering Services New Delhi and Others
Case brief
What is this about?
WP(C) No. 3210/2023, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu, pronounced 18.11.2025, Rahul Bharti J (oral judgment) — MES contractor delisted from approved list by HQ Chief Engineer Northern Command communication dated 02.08.2023; alternative remedy: appeal under Clause 10 of Manual of Contracts to Engineer-in-Chief; writ petition disposed of with liberty to appeal within 15 days, appellate disposal within one month, reasoned order required, personal hearing, prejudice-free consideration, time spent on writ petition excluded; respondents Union of India & Ors.; no monetary relief.
What did the court decide?
Writ petition disposed of along with connected application(s) with liberty to the petitioner to prefer an appeal under Clause 10 of the Manual of Contracts to the Engineer-in-Chief within 15 days; the Engineer-in-Chief to allow reasonable opportunity of submissions/hearing in person and dispose of the appeal within one month with a reasoned order; the petitioner entitled to take all possible grounds of objection, with the appellate authority expected to apply its mind prejudice free; time spent during the pendency of or before filing the writ petition not counted against the petitioner.