Patna High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.2279 of 2013 ====================================================== Mishal Engineering Works Industrial Estate, Bela, Muzaffarpur Through Bimal Kishore S/O Jai Narayan Thakur Resident Of Village Chhajan, P.O. Chhajan, P.S. Kudhni, District Muzaffarpur. Versus .... .... Petitioner/s 1. The State Of Bihar. 2. The Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna. 3. Engineer-In-Chief Cum Additional Secretary Cum Special Secretary, Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna. 4. The Superintending Engineer, Tube Well Circle, Muzaffarpur. 5. The Executive Engineer, Tube Well Division, Hajipur. 6. The Divisional Accounts Officer, Tube Well Division, Hajipur, District Vaishali At Hajipur. .... .... Respondent/s ====================================================== with Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.2303 of 2013 ====================================================== Suresh Rai S/O Vishwanath Rai Resident Of Village - Hilalpur, Po - Hilalpur, Ps - Industrial Area, Hajipur, District Vaishali At Hajipur Versus .... .... Petitioner/s The 1. The State Of Bihar 2. The Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna Engineer-In-Chief-Cum-Additional 3. Secretary, Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna 4. The Superintending Engineer, Tube-Well Circle, Muzaffarpur 5. The Executive Engineer, Tube-Well Division, Hajipur 6. The Divisional Accounts Officer, Tube Well Division, Hajipur, Vaishali Secretary-Cum-Special
Legal Reasoning
.... .... Respondent/s ====================================================== with Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.2244 of 2013 ====================================================== Janki Enterprises, South Beer Kunwar Singh Colony, Hajipur, P.O.+P.S.- Hajipur, District- Vaishali At Hajipur, Through The Proprietor Awanish Pratap Singh, S/O Shri Uday Pratap Singh R/O South Beer Kunwar Singh Colony, Hajipur, P.O.+P.S.- Hajipur, District- Vaishali 1. The State Of Bihar 2. The Principal Secretary Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Versus .... .... Petitioner/s 2 Patna High Court CWJC No.2279 of 2013 (2) dt.06-08-2013 2 / 5 Patna 3. The Engineer-In-Chief - Cum - Additional Secretary - Cum - Special Secretary Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna 4. The Superintending Engineer Tube-Well Circle, Muzaffarpur 5. The Executive Engineer, Tube-Well Division, Hajipur 6. The Divisional Accounts Officer, Tube Well Division, Hajipur, Vaishali .... .... Respondent/s ====================================================== With Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.2323 of 2013 ====================================================== Trilok Enterprises, Bhikhanpura Aadam, Hajipur Road, Muzaffarpur Through The Proprietor Rajeev Kumar S/O Shri Hari Nath Prasad Singh Resident Of Village - Bhighanpura Aadam, Po - Head Post Officer, Muzaffarpur, Ps - Sadar Muzaffarpur, District Muzaffarpur Versus .... .... Petitioner/s 1. The State Of Bihar 2. The Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna 3. Engineer-In-Chief-Cum-Additional Secretary-Cum-Special Secretary, Irrigation Department, Government Of Bihar, Patna 4. The Superintending Engineer, Tube-Well Circle, Muzaffarpur 5. The Executive Engineer, Tube-Well Division, Hajipur 6. The Divisional Accounts Officer, Tube Well Division, Hajipur, Vaishali .... .... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance : (In CWJC No.2279 of 2013) For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar -Manglam For the Respondent/s : Mr. J.S. Arora SC6 (In CWJC No.2303 of 2013) For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar -Manglam For the Respondent/s : Mr. G.K. Agrwal, SC X & Mr. Abinash Kumar AC to SC 10 (In CWJC No.2244 of 2013) For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar -Manglam For the Respondent/s : Mr. Jaishankar Barnwal SC-1 & Mr. Sanjay Kumar AC to SC 1 (In CWJC No.2323 of 2013) For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar -Manglam For the Respondent/s : Mr. S.A. Alam ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KISHORE KUMAR MANDAL ORAL ORDER 2 06-08-2013 Heard Mr. Manglam for the petitioners in all the writ 3 Patna High Court CWJC No.2279 of 2013 (2) dt.06-08-2013 3 / 5 petitions and counsel(s) for the State. In all these writ petitions the petitioners are the contractors who executed the work(s) under the agreement. In lieu of work the Executive Engineer, Tube well Division, Hajipur (respondent no.5) paid the admissible dues by cheque(s) issued in favour of the petitioners. Copies of the cheques have been enclosed with the writ petitions. It is the grievance of the petitioners that when those cheques were presented for encashment the concerned Treasury returned them on verifying that the amount in the account was not sufficient. The petitioners, therefore, have prayed for a direction commanding the authorities to pay the admissible due amount of the petitioners against the work executed by them under diverse agreements for which cheques were also issued but could not be encashed. Counter affidavit(s) have been filed at least in two cases i.e. CWJC No. 2279 of 2013 & 2303 of 2013. Let it be recorded that the respondents who issued the
Decision
cheques is one and the same in all the writ petitions. Learned counsel for the State drew attention of the Court to the averments made in para 7 to 10 thereof which read thus:- “7. That the respondent authority 4 Patna High Court CWJC No.2279 of 2013 (2) dt.06-08-2013 4 / 5 issued five numbers of cheque in favour of the petitioner on different date in the month of March 2012 and due to some technical reason the aforesaid cheque could not be passed by the treasury in March 2012. 8. That the T/W Organization is an temporary organization which needs extension every year from finance dept. This process takes some time and the dept. has obtained extension for this year in the month of June-2013. 9. That the proposal for allotment of fund has already been sent to dept. which likely to be allotted soon. As soon as allotment of fund made the petitioner will be paid the legitimate dues. 10. That respondent authority hence pray for eight weeks of time for redressal of the grievances of the petitioner.” In the light of the aforesaid statements made in the counter affidavit, it has been submitted on behalf of the State that the amount for which cheques were issued to the petitioners shall be paid within eight weeks. This Court records that counter affidavit was affirmed by the In charge, Executive Engineer, Tube well Division, Hajipur on 30.07.2013. In view of the aforesaid, this Court disposes of the present batch of writ petitions by the following order:- 5 Patna High Court CWJC No.2279 of 2013 (2) dt.06-08-2013 5 / 5 Let the respondents particularly respondent no.5 ensure payment of the amount for which cheques were drawn in favour of the petitioners positively within eight weeks from the date of receipt/production of the order before the concerned respondent. This Court would direct that all the other respondents will act in aid of the present order. (Kishore Kumar Mandal, J) HR/-