M/S Jkb Industries v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

12.06.2024

¶1Heard Mr. S. Rabha, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. A. Lodha, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 1, 2 & 3; Mr. S. Das, learned counsel for the respondent No.4; Ms. R.M. Barooah, learned counsel for the respondent No.5 and Ms. A. Gayan, learned CGC for the respondent No.6.

¶2The petitioner's case is that he is a registered contractor under the Water Resources Department, Government of Assam and had been allotted different works under the Flood Management Programme Scheme namely "Anti-erosion measures to protect Bamundi village and its adjoining area form the erosion of river Brahmaputra"

¶3The petitioner after completing the works allotted to him by the Water Resources Department submitted his bills amounting to Rs.9,02,496/-. Page No.# 3/4

¶4The petitioner's counsel submits that Rs.99,112/- had been paid to the petitioner and the balance amount of Rs.8,03,384/- has not been paid to the petitioner.

¶5Ms. A. Lodha, learned counsel appearing for the Water Resources Department submits that the petitioner is still liable to get Rs.8,03,384/-.

¶6Ms. A. Gayan, learned CGC submits that she has no comments to make in this matter, as the contract was awarded by the Water Resources Department and the amount was payable by the Water Resources Department.

¶7I have heard the learned counsels for the parties.

¶8Paragraph-5 of the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the Chief Engineer, Water Resources Department, Assam is to the effect that the petitioner has been paid Rs.99,112/- out of his original bill of Rs.9,02,496/-. The Chief Engineer's affidavit thus shows that the petitioner is still liable to be given Rs.8,03,384/-, in terms of paragraph-5 of the said affidavit.

¶9Paragraph-6 of the said affidavit-in-opposition of the Chief Engineer however states that under the Flood Management Programme Scheme, the Central Government have to give 80% share of the fund, while the State Government is to pay 20% of the fund. Accordingly, once the Central share is received by the State Government, the respondents can release the balance amount to be made to the petitioner.

¶10This Court, in a series of cases, leading case being WP(C) 4734/2021 (Nazim Hussain -vs-The State of Assam and 8 others), while disposing of the Page No.# 4/4 similar matters, had passed the following direction, which are as follows:- "(1) Within 15 (fifteen) days from today, the concerned official of the State Government of Assam will communicate the supplementary budget passed in the last Assembly Session pertaining to the scheme to the competent authority of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.

(2) Within 60 (sixty) days from the date of receipt of such communication, the Ministry of Jal Shakti to release the amount due under the schemes to the concerned Department of the Government of Assam.

(3) Upon receipt of the amount, bills of the writ petitioners shall be processed and cleared within a further period of 45 days"

¶11On considering the fact that the admitted balance amount of contractual bills payable to the petitioner is Rs.8,03,384/-, the respondents are directed to pay the same to the petitioner, within a period of 3 (three) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.

¶12This writ petition is accordingly disposed of

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010180252022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5889/2022o M/SoJKBoINDUSTRIESo AoREGISTEREDoPROPRIETORSHIPoFIRMoBEINGoREPRESENTEDoBYoITSo PROPRIETOR,oSRIoROBINoBHUYAN,oS/OoLATEoKAMALAoKANTAoBHUYAN,o AGEDoABOUTo56oYEARS,oR/OoVILL-oMAZIRoGAON,oPALASHBARI,oP.O.- AGCHIA,oP.S.-AZARA,oDIST-oKAMRUPo(M),oASSAM,oPIN-781017 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSPECIALoSECRETARYoOFo WATERoRESOURCE,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oWATERoRESOURCEoDEPARTMENT oCHANDMARI oGUWAHATI-3 3:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oWATERoRESOURCEoDIVISIONoGUWAHATIoWEST oBHARALUMUKH oGUWAHATI-9 4:MANAGINGoDIRECTOR oASSAMoSMALLoINDUSTRIESoDEVELOPMENToCORPORATIONoLIMITED oBAMUNIMAIDAM oGUWAHATI-21 5:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY oDEPARTMENToOFoFINANCE oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oDISPUR Page No.# 2/4 GUWAHATI- 6. 6:THE UNION OF INDIA REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION NEW DELHI- 110001 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR R CHAKRAVORTY Advocate for the Respondent : SC, WATER RESOURCE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA