Samarendra Sarma v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER

¶1Heard Ms. C. Deka, learned counsel for the petitioner, who submits that the petitioner had executed contractual work under the scheme formulated by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, in consultation with the Government of Assam through the Water Resources Department, named as Flood Management & Border Areas Program. Page No.# 3/4

¶2The petitioner's counsel submits that after completion of the contract work, the State respondents made part payment of the contractual dues of the petitioner. However, the petitioner was not paid the remaining balance amount of Rs.35,08,637/-, as reflected in the Liability Statement made by the respondent no.7 and the Accounts Officer, Morigaon Water Resources Division, Morigaon.

¶3The petitioner's counsel submits that similarly situated persons had approached this Court, vide numerous cases, the leading case being WP(C) 4734/2021. She submits that vide order dated 27.09.0222 passed in the above cases including WP(C) 4734/2021, this Court had given certain directions for the procedure to be followed in paying the pending contractual bills of the contractors therein. She submits that similar directions may be passed in this case.

¶4Ms. R. Deka, learned counsel for the Water Resources Department, Government of Assam, Mr. G. Pegu, learned CGC for the respondent no.1 and Mr. R.K. Talukdar submit that they have no objection to the prayer made by the petitioner's counsel, provided the respondents make a re-verification as to whether there are liabilities against the petitioner's contractual bills.

¶5I have heard the learned counsels for the parties.

¶6In view of the consent of the parties, this Court directs the respondents/Water Resources Department to re-verify as to whether there are Page No.# 4/4 pending bills against the petitioner, in terms of the Liability Statement which has been issued by the Executive Engineer, Morigaon Water Resources Division, Morigaon (Page-28 of the writ petition). In the event, the Water Resources Division, Morigaon finds that there are pending dues against the petitioner's contractual bills, the directions passed in WP(C) 4734/2021 should be followed for payment of the pending bills.

¶7The directions passed vide the order dated 27.09.0222 in WP(C) 4734/2021 is to the following effect :

(1) Within 15 (fifteen) days from today, the concerned official of the State Government of Assam will communicate the supplementary budget passed in the last Assembly Session pertaining to the scheme to the competent authority of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.

(2) Within 60 (sixty) days from the date of receipt of such communication, the Ministry of Jal Shakti to release the amount due under the schemes to the concerned Department of the Government of Assam.

(3) Upon receipt of the amount, bills of the writ petitioners shall be processed and cleared within a further period of 45 days.

¶8The writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010018142024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/513/2024o SAMARENDRAoSARMAo S/OoSRIoANILoCH.oSARMA,oR/OoHOUSEoNO.o6,oKALYANIoSAGARoPATH,oP.O.- NARAKASUR,oKAHILIPARA,oP.S.-DISPUR,oDIST-oKAMRUPo(M),oASSAM,o GUWAHATI-781019 VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY,oMINISTRYoOFoJALoSHAKTI,o DEPARTMENToOFoWATERoRESOURCEoANDoGANGAoREJUVENATION,oNEWo DELHI-110001 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM oWATERoRESOURCEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06 3:THEoBRAHMAPUTRAoBOARD oASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRMAN oNHo37 oBASISTHA oGUWAHATI-781029 4:THEoPRINCIPALoACCOUNTANToGENERALo(AUDIT) oMAIDAMGAON oKRISHNANAGAR oBELTOLA oGUWAHATI-781029 oASSAM Page No.# 2/4 5:THE CHIEF ENGINEER WATER RESOURCE DEPARTMENT CHANDMARI GUWAHATI-781003 DIST- KAMRUP (METRO) ASSAM 6:THE SUPERINTENDENT ENGINEER NAGAON WATER RESOURCE CIRCLE DIST-NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782001 7:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER MORIGAON WATER RESOURCE DIVISION MORIGAON DIST-MORIGAON ASSAM PIN-782105 8:THE ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER JAGIROAD WATER RESOURCE SUB-DIVISION JAGIROAD DIST- MORIGAON ASSAM PIN-78204 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. B K GOGOI Advocate for the Respondent : BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA