Atw India Pvt. Ltd v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER

04.08.2023 The present writ petition has been filed being aggrieved by the inactions on Page No.# 3/5 the part of the Respondent Authorities in not refunding the security deposit amount of Rs.4,39,198/- to the Petitioner. From a perusal of the writ petition, it appears that the Respondent in the Irrigation Department had floated a tender for the works –

(A) SPL M & R to MDTWS at Singahuti but for supply of brick dust free from foreign materials complete as directed.

(B) SPL M & R to MDTWS at Rangpuria Romai - for supply of brick dust free from foreign materials complete as directed.

¶2The Petitioner participated in the said tender process and was awarded the said contracts. On 01.03.2013 works orders were issued to the Petitioner. Pursuant to the said work orders, the Petitioner completed the work within the targeted period and the Respondents also never accepted the same without any objection. At this stage, this Court finds it relevant to take note of Annexure-II, which is the first and the final bill, wherein, it has been shown that the work was done as per the specifications. It is also seen from the said document that an amount of Rs. 57,11,919/- was released and an amount of Rs. 5,45,291/- was withheld which was the security deposit. As the Petitioner had duly completed the work to the satisfaction of the Respondent Authorities, the Petitioner sought for release of the security deposit of the amount of Rs. 5,45,291/-. The Respondent Authorities instead of refunding the entire security deposit had only released an amount of Rs. 1,06,093/- and an amount of Rs.4,39,198/- was outstanding. The Petitioner on various occasions requested the Respondent Authorities for the release of the said amount of Rs.4,39,198/-, however, the same was not released. The Petitioner thereupon submitted a RTI application before the Public Information Officer of the Irrigation Department, Dibrugarh Division. On 05.07.2017, the Assistant Executive Engineer(TC), Page No.# 4/5 Dibrugarh Division, Irrigation who is also the Public Information Officer provided the information that the amount of Rs. 4,39,198/- could not be refunded to the Petitioner inasmuch as the Irrigation Department inadvertently deposited the VAT vide challan to the Tax Authorities twice and the Irrigation Department have been pursuing with the Superintendent of Taxes, Dibrugarh for refund of the said amount and as the said amount has not been paid, the amount of Rs. 4,39,198/- could not be refunded back to the Petitioner.

¶3Taking into account that in spite of various representations and request, the said amount of Rs. 4,39,198/- was not refunded to the Petitioner. The instant writ petition has been filed seeking a direction upon the Respondent Irrigation Department to refund the said amount of Rs. 4,39,198/- to the Petitioner.

¶4It appears on record that this Court had issued notice as far as back on

10.11.2017. No affidavit-in-opposition however has been filed by the Irrigation Department.

¶5Upon hearing the learned counsel for the parties, it is appears that there is a clear admission on the part of the Respondent Irrigation Department that they are liable to refund the security deposit of an amount of Rs.4,39,198/- to the Petitioner. The difficulties faced by the Irrigation Department for not being able to get the refund of the amount from the Taxation Department of the Government of Assam in the opinion of this Court cannot be a reason to withhold the said amount to which the Petitioner is entitled to. Under such circumstances, this Court therefore disposes of the instant writ petition with a direction to the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Irrigation Department to take appropriate steps for refund of the said amount of Rs.4,39,198/- to the Petitioner within a period of 6 weeks from the date a certified copy of the Page No.# 5/5 instant order is submitted to the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Irrigation Department. It is made clear that if the said amount is not refunded to the Petitioner within a period of 6 weeks, the Respondent/Irrigation Department shall be liable to pay interest which this Court quantifies @ 9% from the date of such default.

¶6Mr. B. Gogoi, the learned counsel who also is the Standing Counsel for the Finance and Taxation Department of the Government of Assam shall also instruct the Commissioner of Taxes, Assam to do the needful upon request being made by the Irrigation Department for the refund of the said amount, if deposited twice by the Irrigation Department of the Government of Assam.

¶7With the above observations and directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed off. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010048272017 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6797/2017o ATWoINDIAoPVT.oLTD.o HAVINGoITSoREGD.oOFFICEoATo6,oPRENAoCHOWKIDINGI,oP.O.oC.Ro BUILDING,oDIBRUGARH,oASSAM-786003. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoando7oORS.o REP.oBYoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oIRRIGATIONoDEPTT.,o ASSAM,oDISPUR,oGHY.-781006. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oBYoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoTAXATIONoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGHY. 3:THEoCOMMISSIONERoOFoTAXES oASSAM oKARoBHAWAN oDISPUR oGHY.-781006. 4:ASSTT.oCOMMISSIONERoOFoTAXES oCENTRAL oVAToAUDIToCELL oKARBHAWAN oDISPUR oGHY.-781006. 5:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER Page No.# 2/5 IRRIGATION DEPTT. ASSAM CHANDMARI GHY.-781003. 6:THE CHIEF ENGINEER MINOR IRRIGATION DEPTT. ASSAM CHANDMARI GHY.-781003. 7:THE ADDL. CHIEF ENGINEER ZONE-III IRRIGATION ASSAM JORHAT-785001 ASSAM. 8:THE UNDER SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM IRRIGATION DEPTT. BUDGET BRANCH DISPUR GHY.-781006 For the Petitioner : Ms. S. Roy, Advocate. For the Respondents : Mr. B. Gogoi, SC, Finance & Taxation Deptt. Mr. N. Upadhyay, SC, Irrigation Deptt. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH