Abul Kalam Azad Khan v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 09.04.2024

Heard Mr. A. Rahman, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. I. Borthakur, learned Standing Counsel, PHE. Also heard Mr. P. Nayak, learned Standing Counsel, Finance Department. The petitioner by filing this writ petition is seeking relief of the outstanding bill amount of Rs. 5,21,727/- relating to the works completed by the petitioner in connection with installation of Water Pumps, RCC Ring Well Coverage, Tara Hand Pumps etc., under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme at various places within the district of Dhubri, South Salmara, Mankachar. The case of the petitioner is that after following all the formalities, the respondent authorities issued work orders, which are enclosed as Annexures 1 to 8 in the writ petition for the works of installation of Water Pumps, RCC Ring Well Coverage, Tara Hand Pumps etc., under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme at various places within the district of Dhubri, South Salmara, Mankachar. It is the further case of the petitioner that upon successful completion of the said works, the respondent authorities inspected the aforesaid works done and issued completion certificate to the petitioner certifying that the petitioner has completed the subject works allotted to him satisfactorily. It is the further case of the petitioner that thereafter the respondent authorities have also issued one pending bill statement mentioning the pending bills against each Page No.# 3/3 of the works allotted to him. However, the outstanding bill amount of Rs.5,21,727/- has not been paid to the petitioner till date despite several representation of the petitioner. Aggrieved by such inaction of release of the aforesaid outstanding amount, the present writ petition has been filed. I have heard the submissions made at the Bar and perused the materials available on record. It appears that the petitioner by a representation dated

24.06.2019 requested the office of the Executive Engineer (PHE), Dhubri Division, Dhubri, to release the outstanding bill amount against the subject works to the petitioner. However, the said representation is still not been attended to. In view of the above, this Court is of the considered view that for the ends of justice, this writ petition can be disposed of with a direction to the respondent authority, more particularly, the respondent No. 3, i.e., the Chief Engineer (PHE), Assam, to verify the claim of the petitioner and proceed in accordance with law within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. This writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010058422022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2147/2022o ABULoKALAMoAZADoKHANo S/O-oLATEoPIRoMOHAMMADoKHAN,oR/O-oM.oCO.oROAD,oWARDoNO.o14,oP.S.o ANDoDIST.oDHUBRI,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oPUBLICo HEALTHoENGINEERINGoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM oFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oHAVINGoITSoOFFICEoAToDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006. 3:THEoCHIEFoENGINEERo(PHE) oASSAMoHENGRABARI oGUWAHATI-36. 4:THEoADDL.oCHIEFoENGINEERo(PHE) oLOWERoASSAMoZONE oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGUWAHATI-21. 5:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEERo(PHE) oDHUBRIoDIVISION oDHUBRIoP.O.oANDoDIST.oDHUBRI oASSAMoPIN-o783301. 6:THEoASSISTANToEXECUTIVEoENGINEERo(PHE) oHATSINGIMARIoSUB-DIVISION oP.O.oANDoDIST.oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHAR oASSAo Page No.# 2/3 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N ALAM R K Advocate for the Respondent : SC, P H E BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KAUSHIK GOSWAMI