Fatima Yuva Self Help Group v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER

16.08.2023

¶1The instant writ petition had been filed by the petitioner being aggrieved on account of non-payment of the outstanding bill of the petitioner of an amount of Rs. 11,60,505/-. It appears from the records that the Chief Engineer (Sanitation) PHE, Guwahati had filed an affidavit-in-opposition on 01.06.2023 wherein at paragraph no. 5 it had been mentioned that the petitioner is only entitled to amount of Rs. 7,51,110/- which is pending disbursal due to paucity of funds.

¶2Mr. M.Z. Shah, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is Page No.# 3/3 actually entitled to Rs. 11,60,505/- and the amount so stated in paragraph no. 5 of the affidavit-in-opposition is not a correct ascertainment of the entitlement of the petitioner.

¶3Having heard the submissions of learned counsel for both the parties and taking note of that the respondent authorities and more particularly the Chief Engineer (Sanitation) PHE in its affidavit had stated that the amount to which the petitioner is entitled is Rs. 7,51,110/-, the said amount has to be released to the petitioner.

¶4Mr. D. Gogoi, learned counsel for the PHE though submits that there is a term in the work order so issued that the payment shall be made upon availability of the funds. But it is the opinion of this Court that if there is a delay in making payment for an unreasonable period of time on account of the funds have not been allotted, the same term would be arbitrary and unreasonable.

¶5Accordingly, this Court therefore directs the respondent authorities more particularly the Chief Engineer (Sanitation) PHE to take appropriate steps so that the amount of Rs. 7,51,110/- is released to the petitioner within a period of 6 (six) months from the date of certified copy of the instant order itself served upon the Chief Engineer (Sanitation) PHE.

¶6This Court also had duly taken note of the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is actually entitled to an amount of Rs. 11,60,505/-. Taking into account that upon verification it had been only found that the amount to which the petitioner is entitled is Rs. 7,51,110/-, this Court is not in a position to decide and adjudicate as to whether the petitioner is entitled to any further amount other than Rs. 7,51,110/- in exercise of the powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

¶7Accordingly, this Court rejects the said contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner but grants liberty to the petitioner to approach the appropriate forum where such adjudication of facts is permissible under law. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010208292022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6733/2022o FATIMAoYUVAoSELFoHELPoGROUPo REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSECRETARY,oNIHARoRANJANoNATH,oAGE-54oYEARS, S/OoNIKHILoCHANDRAoNATH,oR/OoVILL-oOKSEKoHATHIBANDHA,oP.O.-o CHODHURYoBAZAR,oP.S.-MURAJHAR,oDIST-HOJAI,oASSAM,oPIN-782439 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oPUBLICo HEALTHoANDoENGINEERINGo(P.H.E.)oDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI- 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06 3:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oPUBLICoHEALTHoANDoENGINEERINGoDEPARTMENT oHENGRABARI oGUWAHATI-781006 4:THEoMEMBERoSECRETARY oDISTRICToWATERoANDoSANITATIONoCOMMITTEEo(D.W.S.C.) oCUMoEXECUTIVEoENGINEERo(PHE) oHOJAIoDIVISION oDIST-oNAGAON oASSAM 5:THEoMEMBERoSECRETARY oDISTRICToWATERoANDoSANITATIONoCOMMITTEEo(D.W.S.C.) Page No.# 2/3 CUM EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (PHE) NAGAON DIVISION DIST- HOJAI ASSAM 6:THE MEMBER SECRETARY ANCHALIK PANCHAYAT WATER AND SANITATION COMMITTEE (A.P.W.S.C.) CUM ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (P.H.E.) LUMDING SUB-DIVISION DIST- HOJAI ASSAM PIN-782442 7:THE MEMBER SECRETARY GAON PANCHAYAT WATER AND SANITATION COMMITTEE (G.W.S.C.) CUM SECTIONAL OFFICER (P.H.E.) KAKI SECTION/ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER KAKI SECTION DIST- HOJAI ASSAM PIN-78242 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR M Z SHAH Advocate for the Respondent : SC, P H E BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH