Mokbul Hussain v. The State of Assam and 2 Ors

ORDER Date : 02-12-2024 Heard Mr. DC Nath, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. I Borthakur, learned counsel for the PHE Department.

¶2The petitioner's case is that he was allotted various works vide different work orders, for installation of TARA Hand Pumps, RCC Ring Wells and Hand Pumps, etc under various Gaon Panchayats, issued by the Executive Engineer, Public Health Engineering (PHE), Dhubri Division. The petitioner after completing the works submitted his bills, which are as follows: "1) Bill No. 57, MB No. 3551(B) page Nos. 146-156 for an amount of Rs. 78,380/- for the Work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-86/2014-15/2573 dated 19-02-2015. 2) Bill No. 38, MB No. 3603(B) page Nos. 144-156 for an amount of Rs. 1,08,756/- for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-86/2014-15/2577 dated 19-02-2015. 3) Bill No. 20, MB No. 3646(B) page Nos. 14-29 for an amount of Rs. 78,163/-Work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-88/ Char/2015-16/110 dated 17-04-2015. 4) Bill No.03, MB No. 3432 (B) page No. 152-164 for an amount of Rs. 66,467/- for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-86/2014-15/114 dated 17-04-2015. Page No.# 3/4 5) Bill No. 42, MB No. 3639 (B) page No. 11-21 for an amount of Rs. 77,090/- for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-88/ Char/2014-15/118 dated 17-04-2015. 6) Bill No.51, MB No. 3630 (B) page No. 109-121 for an amount of Rs. 78,209/- for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-88/ Char/422 dated 13-05-2015. 7) Bill No. 49, MB No. 3630 (B) page No. 122-134 for an amount of Rs. 78,275/-for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-88/ Char/427 dated 13-05-2015. 8) Bill No. 69, MB No. 3631 (B) page No. 69-80 for an amount of Rs. 61,683/-Work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-73/2015-16 dated 27-10-2015. 9) Bill No. 44, MB No. 3639 (B) page No. 190-197 for an amount of Rs. 24,071/- for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/TC-90/2016-17/125 dated 20-06-2016. 10) Bill No. 33, MB No. 3639 (B) page No. 173-181 for an amount of Rs. 40,742/- for the work order No. PHEE/DBB/SW/TC-90/2016-17/129 dated 20-06-2016."

¶3The petitioner's counsel submits that the total amount of unpaid bills is Rs.6,91,836/-.

¶4Mr. I Borthakur, learned counsel for the PHE submits that he has not been given any instructions till date. He further submits that the writ petition can be disposed of, if a direction is issued to the respondent No. 2 to verify the petitioner's claim in terms Page No.# 4/4 of Tamsher Ali vs. State of Assam & Ors., reported in 2008 (4) GLT 1.

¶5I have heard the learned counsels for the parties.

¶6The petitioner's contractual dues, as claimed by him have been enumerated in the foregoing paragraphs. This writ petition has been filed on 22.07.2019 and despite more than 5 (five) years having elapsed, the respondents have neither filed any affidavit nor have given any instructions to their counsel, with regard to the claim of the petitioner regarding his unpaid contractual dues.

¶7In view of the above facts, this Court is of the view that it would not serve any purpose if the writ petition is kept pending any longer in this Court. Accordingly, the respondent No. 2 is directed to verify the petitioner's claim/bills and if they are found to be correct, the respondents should pay to the petitioner the admitted amount. 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.

¶8The writ petition is disposed of accordingly.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010170232019 ooooooo undefined ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5277/2019o MOKBULoHUSSAINo S/O-oLATEoRAHMANoALI,oVILL-oKHOSLARTARY,oP.O-oHELAGARI,oP.S-o SAPATGRAM,oDIST-oDHUBRI,oASSAM,oPIN-o783345 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo2oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM,o PHED,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI,oASSAM,oPIN-o781006 2:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oDEPTToOFoPHE oHENGRABARI oGUWAHATI-o06 3:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPHE oDHUBRIoDIVISION oDHUBRI oP.OoANDoP.S-oDHUBRI oASSAM oPIN-o78334o AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oAoKoDUTTA,oMRoDoCoNATHo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oSC,oPoHoE,oo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page No.# 2/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA