Abhijit Nath v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER

25.11.2024

¶1Heard Mr. A. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioner, who submits that the petitioner had done the work of repairing/maintenance of Khaspur-Bager Kona Road under Udharband L.A.C. in the year 2011. However, the petitioner has not been paid his remaining contractual dues amounting to Rs.1,96,042/- and Security Deposit of Rs.88,000/-.

¶2Ms. R.M. Barooah, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. B. Gogoi, learned counsel for the PWD has submitted letter no.SUTRD/WP(C)711/2024-25/98 dated 17.08.2024 issued by the Executive Engineer, PWRD, Silchar & Udharbond Territorial Road Division, Silchar and addressed to the Chief Engineer, PWD (Roads), Assam, Chandmari, which is to the effect that as per the record, bill amounting to Rs.1,96,147/- remains unpaid to the petitioner. Also Government approval is to be obtained for payment of the Security Deposit. The learned counsel submits that in view of the letter dated

17.08.2024, the State respondents should be given sometime to obtain Government approval for payment of the admitted dues of the petitioner. Page No.# 3/4

¶3I have heard the learned counsels for the parties.

¶4The letter dated 17.08.2024 issued by the Executive Engineer, PWRD, Silchar & Udharbond Territorial Road Division, Silchar is made a part of the record and marked as Annexure-X.

¶5The parawise reply in the said letter dated 17.08.2024 is reproduced hereinbelow, as follows : "Para wise reply are as follows:

¶1No Comment.

¶2Yes work awarded to him as per Provision.

¶3No Comment.

¶4Reasoning his sickness as informed by the Petitioner his case was Considered work finalized in incomplete stage as he could not able to Complete.

¶5Contractor was benefitted with a part payment as per Govt. released F.O.C. twice.

¶6Same as per No.4 & the 2nd running bill also Paid. But, no prayer submitted by him for clearing balance etc. in earlier days even after finalization of work.

¶7As per record, Bill amounting remains un paid is only Rs. 196147.00 & the amount in Question against Security Deposit Govt. approval is to be obtained.

¶8Yes, prayer for Security Deposit release submitted by the petitioners on September/ 2023 first.

¶9Same as Para No.8.

¶10No Comment. Page No.# 4/4

¶11Both the amount in Question required Govt. approval now separately and as the system of releasing payment has been Modified after introducing on-line payment system his payment could be cleared by submitting demand.

12.No Comment.

¶13No Comment.

¶14No Comment.

¶15No Comment.

¶16No Comment. This is for favour of your kind information & necessary action. Enclo: (one) photocopy of Final Bill"

¶6In view of the above letter dated 17.08.2024 and submission made by the counsel for the PWD, wherein the respondents admit that the petitioner is entitled to be paid his contractual dues, the respondents are directed to start the process of payment of the unpaid contractual dues of the petitioner amounting to Rs.1,96,147/-, along with the unpaid Security Deposit, after obtaining Government approval and the funds. The entire exercise should be concluded within a period of 3 (three) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.

¶7The writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010019162024 ooooooo undefined ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/711/2024o ABHIJIToNATHo S/O-oLT.oNAGENDRAoCHANDRAoNATH,oR/O-oTARAPURoUKILoBAZAR,oP.O.o TARAPUR,oP.S.oTARAPUR,oDISTRICT-oCACHAR,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY,oPWDo DEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06 2:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oPWDoROADSoCHANDMARI oGUWAHATI-o781003 3:SUPERINTENDINGoENGINEER oPWDo(ROADS) oCACHARoCIRCLE oSILCHAR oINoTHEoDISTRICToOFoCACHAR oASSAM 4:EXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPWRDoSILCHARoANDoUDHARBANDoTERRITORIALoROADoDIVISION oSILCHAR oINoTHEoDISTRICToOFoCACHAR oASSAM 5:THEoASSISTANToEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPWRDoUDHARBANDoTERRITORIALoROADoSUB-DIVISION oUDHARBAND oP.O.oUDHARBAND oP.S.oUDHARBAND Page No.# 2/4 IN THE DISTRICT OF CACHAR ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. B HUSSAIN, MR A SHARMA,MR R S CHAUHAN Advocate for the Respondent : SC, PWD, BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA