Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

O R D E R

13.10.2023 The instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioner challenging the inaction on the part of the respondent authorities in releasing the outstanding contractual bill amount of Rs.9,06,628/- to which the petitioner is entitled to upon completion of the works allotted to him by the Executive Engineer, PDW, Jorhat Division.

¶2The case of the petitioner herein is that the petitioner is the proprietor of M/S Mahanta Electrical situated at Cinamara Jorhat, Assam and he is a contractor by profession in the Department of PWD having its licence No.2768. It is the further case of the petitioner that the Executive Engineer of PWD, Jorhat Divisional Office issued an work order dated 24-12-2007 to complete various works, and accordingly, the petitioner completed those works and his contractual works were duly inspected by the respondents and found to be correct and thereafter the completion certificates were issued to him.

¶3It is alleged that on completion of the works in a time bound manner, the petitioner submitted the final bill for release of the outstanding bill amount of Rs.9,06,628/-. The petitioner is, however, aggrieved that in spite of submission of the necessary documents and completion of the work, the respondent authorities have not made payment to the petitioner's entitlement. It is under such circumstances, the instant writ petition has been filed. Page No.# 3/3

¶4Mr. P. Nayak,, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent PWD submits that the entitlement of the petitioner would be dependent upon further verification to be carried out by the respondent authorities.

¶5Upon perusal of the materials on record, this Court is of the opinion that if the petitioner had completed the works in question, the petitioner would be entitled to the amount as claimed. However, for the same, verification on the part of the respondent authorities would be required.

¶6This Court, therefore, disposes of the instant writ petition with a direction upon the respondent authorities to verify as to whether the petitioner had completed the works in question as per the allotment of the works and also as to whether the petitioner had submitted requisite documents which are required for the purpose of releasing the amount claimed by the petitioner.

¶7This Court further directs that upon verification, if it is found that the petitioner is entitled to, the respondent authorities shall pay to the petitioner the entitlement as per the directions contained in the judgment of the Full Bench of this Court in Tamsher Ali vs. State of Assam & Others.

¶8The said exercise for verification be completed with a period of 30 (thirty) days from the date a certified copy of the instant order is served upon the respondent No.2.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

Page No.# 1/3 GAHC010051912021 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/2023/2021 BHASKAR JYOTI MAHANTA S/O LATE SARAT CHANDRA MAHANTA, RESIDENT OF KARANGA KATHAR SATRA, PO KARANGA, DIST JORHAT, ASSAM VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM, PWD DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GUWAHATI 06 2:THE CHIEF ENGINEER PWD DEPARTMENT CHANDMARI GUWAHATI 03 3:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER PWD DEPARTMENT JORHAT ELECTORAL DIVISION PO AND DIST JORHAT ASSAM 785001 4:THE ACCOUNT OFFICER PWD DEPARTMENT JORHAT ELECTORAL DIVISION PO AND DIST JORHAT ASSAM 78500 For the petitioner (s) : Mr. A. Ali, Advocate For the respondent (s) : Mr. P. Nayak, SC, PWD Page No.# 2/3 BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH