A division bench comprising Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai made the observation while hearing a petition filed by Om Prakash Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, challenging the cancellation of a tender issued by the PWD’s Provincial Division in Gonda.
The dispute relates to the construction of a link road connecting Mau Samasabad Achal Nagar Road with Padere Gadhawa Sonbarasa Ahlad Nagar Lonpurawa. Mishra, through his counsel, argued that he had participated in the bidding process and that the tender was canceled before finalization following a government order issued on July 31, 2026.
According to the petitioner, the state government subsequently decided that the project fell under the Regional Development program and should instead be executed by the Rural Engineering Department. As a result, the ongoing tender process conducted by the PWD was scrapped and the work transferred to RED.
The petitioner alleged that the decision was arbitrary and motivated by the intervention of the local MLA from Mehnon in Gonda. His counsel contended that there were no irregularities in the PWD tender process that justified its cancellation.
During the hearing, the state’s counsel informed the court that the government had taken a policy decision to assign the road project to the Rural Engineering Department.
After examining the matter, the bench noted that no valid justification had been provided for shifting the project to another agency when the tender process was already underway. The court further observed that documents on record suggested the transfer decision may have been influenced by letters written by the local MLA on July 27 and August 10, 2026.
The court prima facie found the government order to be lacking any cogent reasons and appearing to have been passed in a mala fide manner. It directed the state authorities to file their response within three weeks.
In its October 7 order, the High Court stayed the operation of both the July 31 government order transferring the work and the August 1 order canceling the PWD tender process until the next hearing on November 25. The court also restrained authorities from awarding the contract to any other party without its permission. However, it observed that the state government would be free to allow the PWD to continue the tender process after withdrawing the cancellation order.
The case will determine whether the government can legally shift a project to another executing agency after the tendering process has already commenced.
