M/S. Lion Heart Construction and Project (Supply/Road Construction/Building and Finance Etc.) v. The State of Assam and 9 Ors

ORDER

20.11.2023 The instant writ petition has been filed by the Petitioner being aggrieved by the non-consideration of the Petitioner'srepresentationfor enhancement of the rates. Page No.# 3/4

¶2It reveals from the records that the Petitioner was allotted a contract for (i) construction of BDO/EO Quarter for AP at Hailakandi Development Block, (ii) construction of Grade-III Quarter for AP at Hailakandi Development Block and

(iii) construction of Grade IV Quarter for AP at Hailakandi Development Block. The Petitioner was issued a Letter of Acceptance on 22.08.2014.Thereupon the notice to proceed with the work was issued on 4th of September, 2014. However, the Petitioner could not start with the construction of the BDO/EO Quarter for AP at Hailakandi Development Block as there was no land clearance. The Petitioner duly approached the Respondent Authorities including the Deputy Commissioner, Hailakandi for land clearance. However, as the land clearance was not granted and there was also a request for enhancement of rate which was also not considered, the Petitioner approached this Court by filing a Writ Petition which was registered and numbered as W.P.(C) No.6130/2017.

¶3Vide an order dated 22.02.2019, this Court taking into account that there was no opposition to the first prayer for handing over the site to the Petitioner so that the Petitioner would be in a position to complete the work, appropriate directions were issued for vacating the existing quarters within 4 weeks from the date of the said order after giving due notice. However, as regards the second prayer for enhancement of the rate, it was the opinion of this Court that such a relief cannot be considered under Article 226 of the Constitution and the petitioner was given the liberty to approach the Respondent Authorities seeking enhancement of the rate on account of price escalation. The Petitioner on the basis of the said liberty so granted, approached the Respondent Authorities and in the minutes of the meeting held on 26.03.2019, it was observed that the Petitioner would be entitled to a total amount of Rs.7,60,913/- in respect to the BDO/EO Quarter(Assam Type Building) having a plinth areaof 55.20 sq. Page No.# 4/4 metreand Rs.5,12,204/- in respect to AP/GP Secretary Grade-IIIQuarter (Assam Type Building) plinth area that is equal to 37.64 sq. metres. The Petitioner being aggrieved by the price escalation so granted have approached this Court by filing the instant writ petition.

¶4This Court having duly heard the learned counsel for the parties is of the opinion that the said aspect as regards the price escalation comes absolutely within the realm of the contract between the Petitioner as well as the Respondent Authorities and this Court in exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution would not be in a position to adjudicate the same. Under such circumstances, this Court is not inclined to grant the reliefs as have been sought for in the instant writ petition for which the instant writ petition stands dismissed.

¶5Be that as it may, the dismissal of the instant writ petition shall not preclude and prejudice the Petitioner to approach the appropriate forum, if so adviced and the period during which the instant writ petition have been pending i.e. from 30.07.2019 till today shall be excluded while computing the period of limitation. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010179122019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5915/2019o M/S.oLIONoHEARToCONSTRUCTIONoANDoPROJECTo(SUPPLY/ROADo CONSTRUCTION/BUILDINGoANDoFINANCEoETC.)o REP.oBYoITSoPROPRIETOR,oIMRANoMAZUMDER,oS/OoA.M.MAZUMDER,oR/Oo HAILAKANDIoTOWN,oP.O.oANDoDIST.oHAILAKANDI,oPIN-788155 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo9oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oPANCHYAToANDo RURALoDEVELOPMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoFINANCEo(ECONOMICoAFFAIRS)oDEPTT. oBLOCKoNO.oF oDISPUR oSFCoCELL oGUWAHATI-6 oASSAM 3:THEoCOMMISSIONER oPANCHYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENT oPANJABARI oASSAM oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-781037 4:THEoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER oZILLAoPARISHAD oHAILAKANDI oASSAM oPINo788151 Page No.# 2/4 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER HAILAKANDI 6:THE BLOCK DEVELOPMENT OFFICER HAILAKANDI DEVELOPMENT BLOCK HAILAKANDI PIN-788151 7:THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A AND E) ASSAM MAIDAMGAON GUWAHATI-29 8:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER PWD (BUILDING) SILCHAR DIVISION SILCHAR PIN-788155 9:THE ASSISTANT ENGINEER PWD HAILAKANDI RURAL ROAD DIVISION HAILAKANDI PIN-788151 10:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER DRDA HAILAKANDI PIN-78815 For the Petitioner (s) : Ms. S. B. Choudhury, Advocate. For the Respondent (s): Mr. N.K. Debnath, SC, P& RD Deptt. Mr. B. Chakraborty, Advocate. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH