M/S. Landmark Engineering v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER

04.08.2023 The Petitioner herein is aggrieved on account of the non-refund of the security deposit of an amount of Rs. 4,46,439/- to the Petitioner by the Respondent/Irrigation Department and as such has filed the instant writ petition.

¶2The brief facts of the instant case is that the Petitioner was issued a formal work order on 09.03.2013 for the various works stated in the said work order. In terms with the said work order, the time of completion of the work was 20 days and the value of the contract was Rs. 55,80,491/-. It further appears from the writ petition that the Petitioner also deposited 2% of the total amount as security deposit. The petitioner completed the work to the satisfaction of the Respondent/Irrigation Department and received the entire dues towards the performance of the contract. However, the security deposit of an amount of Rs. 4,46,439/- was not refunded to the Petitioner. The Petitioner on various Page No.# 3/4 occasions approached the Respondent Authorities but the said Respondent Authorities did not take any steps for refunding the said amount to the Petitioner for which the instant writ petition has been filed.

¶3It appears from the records that this Court had issued notice on 02.08.2019 making it returnable on 28.08.2019. It is further relevant to take note of that there were certain orders also passed by this Court directing the Respondent/Irrigation Department to take steps for refund of the said amount to the Petitioner.

¶4It further reveals from the records that an affidavit-in-opposition has been filed by the Respondents wherein, it is the specific stand taken that the Respondent/Irrigation Department inadvertently deposited Rs. 11,75,041/- realized from different contractors, as VAT twice, and Respondent/Irrigation Department have been pursuing with the Tax Authorities for refund of the said amount, but the Tax Authorities had not refunded the said amount for which the Respondent Irrigation Department is not in a position to refund the said amount to the Petitioner.

¶5Upon hearing the learned counsel for the parties, it 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. 4,46,439/- 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. 4,46,439/- to the Page No.# 4/4 Petitioner within a period of 6 weeks from the date a certified copy of the 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.#o1/4 GAHC010048272017 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooWP(C)/3470/2019 M/S.oLANDMARKoENGINEERING AoPARTNERSHIPoFIRM oREGD.oUNDERoTHEoPARTNERSHIPoACT oHAVINGoITSoPRINCIPALoPLACEoOFoBUSINESSoAToSOUTHoJALANoNAGAR oP.O.oCHOWKIDINGI oDIBRUGARH oASSAM oVERSUS THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORS. REP.oBYoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oIRRIGATIONoDEPTT. oASSAM oDISPUR oGHY-6 2:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER IRRIGATIONoDEPTT. oASSAMoCHANDMARI oGHY-3 o3:THEoCHIEFoENGINEERo(MINOR) IRRIGATIONoDEPTT. oASSAMoCHANDMARI oGHY-3 o4:THEoADDL.oCHIEFoENGINEER ZONE-III oIRRIGATION oASSAM oJORHAT-o785001 oASSAM o5:THEoUNDERoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM IRRIGATIONoDEPTT. Page No.# 2/4 BUDGET BRANCH DISPUR GHY-6 6:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER JORHAT IRRIGATION DIVISION ATILAGAON-785001 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