M/s Kalpataru Projects lntemational Limited, (formerly known as Kalpataru Power v. The State of Telangana

.....RESPONDENTS Petition Under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pteased to issue a writ order or a direction, more particularly a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other writ declaring the action of the Respondents in not refunding the admitted excess BOCW Cess paid i.e., Rs. 2,06,78,006/- as per the Assessment orders dated 26.06.2023 8630.06.2023, passed by the Assessing Officer and Joint Commissioner of Labour, Warangal as illegal, arbitrary, unfair, unconstitution€Ll, unconscionable. and in violation of BOCW Cess Act 1996 86 Rules 1998, principles of natural justice and consequently direct the Respondents to refund the admitted excess BOCW Cess amount of Rs. 2,06,78,006 /- with interest @ 18 percent from the date of assessment orders till the realization of the amount. |.A.NO:1 OF 2at25 Petition Under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the Re,spondents to consider the representations dated 09.10.2023, 23.2.2024,26.02.2024, 10.06.2024,05.09.202486 15.11.2024 pending disposat of the present writ petition. Counsel for thre Petitioner : SRI SHRAVAN PARCHOORI, ADVOCATE FOR SRI LAKSHMIKANTH REDDY DESAI Counsel for thre Respondents : GP FOR LABOUR W.P.NO:1319tiOF 2025 Between: M/s Kalpataru Ppjects lntemational Limited, (formerly known as Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd.) Having its registered office at Plot no. 101, Part-lll, G.|.D.C. Estate, Sectc,r -28, Gandhinagar-382028 Also at. M/s Kalpataru Proiects lntemational Liqitg9. Kalpataru Synergy, 7th Floor, Opp. Grand Hyatt, Santdcruz , (E), Mumbai -,100055. .....PETITIONER AND

1. The State ofTelangana, !ep. by the Principal Secretary Labour Employment and Fac{ory Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad.

2. The Cornmissioner of Labour, H.No. 1-1-18173 TAKS Bhavan, RTC X Roads, Hyderabad 500020, Telangana.

3. The Additional Commissioner of Labour, (Secretary and C E 0), Telangana qujlqil'Elgld gther Construction Workers Welfare Board(TBOCWWB);H.No. 1-1-18f,t3 TAKS Bhavan, RTC X Roads, Hyderabad 500020., Telangbna. 4. The Joirt Commissioner ol Labour, Chaitanyapuri Colony, Prashanthnagar, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Telangana. .....RESPONOENTS Petitior Under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstancer; stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pteased to issue a writ order or a,direction, more particularly a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other writ declaring the action of the 2nd Respondent in taking up review/ Suo Moto Appeal under Rule 14(5) of Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act 1996 and Rules,1998 as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional, violation of BOCW Cess Act 1996 and Rules 1998, principles of natural justice and consequently set aside the Proceedings No. E/18212022 dtd

05.10.2023 and Notice dated 08.04.2025. !.A.NO:1 OF 2025 Petition Under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to stay the Notice dated 08.04.2025 and all further proceedings before the Respondent No.'4 in pursuant to the Proceedings No. E11822022 dtd 05.10.2023 pending disposal of the present writ petition. Counsel for the Petitioner : SRI SHRAVAN PARCHOORI, ADVOCATE FOR SRI LAKSHMIKANTH REDDY DESAI Counsel for the Respondents : GP FOR LABOUR The Court made the following COMMON ORDER a n IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA HOIII'BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGF,SH BHEEMAPAKA WIUT No. 5471 AND 13 95 0F 20/25 o/9.o1.20/26 Between: M/ s Kalpataru Projects International Limited, (formerly known as Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd.), And The State of Telangana, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Labour Employment and Factory Department and others ..... Petitioner Respondents ORDIDR: Writ Petition No. 5471 of 2025 is filed questioning the inar:tion in refunding the admitted excess Bocw cess paid ie. Rs.2,O6,78,006/- as per the assessment orders dated

26.06.2023 and 30.06.2023 passed by the Assessing officer and Joint C)ommissioner of Labour, Warangal, as illegal, arbitrary * * and in violation of BOCW Cess Act, 1996 and Rules 1998. A a conseqr-rential direction is sought to respondents to refund the admittr:d excess amount of Rs.2,O6,78,OO61- with interest at 18%o fr,rm the date of assessment orders till realisation of the s 8-ITlOtlTl:. * * 2 Petitioner which was formally known ?" M/s 2. Kalpatharu Power Transmission Limited was subsequently changed to M/s Kalpatharu Projects International Limited, incorporated under the provisions of the Indian Companies Act 1956 uid.e Ministry of Corporate Affairs Certification dated 22.O5.2023. Petitioner is in the business of diversified Engineering & construction companies engaged in Power Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Building & Factories (B&F), Water Supply & Irrigation, Railways, oil & Gas Pipelines, Urban Mobility Flyovers, Highways and Air Force. Gujarat state Petronet Limited has floated a tender for Engineering Procurement & Construction Contract Agreement for pipeline and associated station works for Mallavaram Gopal Bilvara, vijayapuri Pipeline Projects. In consequence of that, GSPL has issued a Letter of Acceptance to petitioner company uide Proceedings . No. GITL/MBBVPL/KPTLI2OLT lO7 lool dated o5.o7.2o17. Subsequently, contractual agreement has been arrived at between GSPL India Transco Limited and M/s * Kalpatharu Power Transmission Limited for execution of tender works. In pursuance of the contractual conditions, petitioner company furnished Bank Guarantee in favour of GSPL and registered the establishment under Section 7(3) of the Building e-, & other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment & a i) + J n Conditioa of Service) Act, L996 uide Regpstration No.46l2Ol7 dated 07 -O9-2O17.

2.1. The subject contract value is Rs.561,67,88,5451- for the v,rork done from Ashwaraopeta for 155.04 KMs to RFCL Ramagundam and for the work done for Andhra Pradesh, the value o.: the project is for Rs.125,03,98,8491-. As per the statute, BOCW cess was deducted from RA bills submitted by petitiont:r on the total contract value and not on the construr:tion cost. Total BOCW cess that was deducted from 23 RA bills has come to the tune of Rs.3,99,45,3291-. Petitioner contended that the contract had two aspects; one is for execution of construction work and the other is for supply of material procured for execution of construction work in terms of the agrt:ement. Therefore, deducting the tax for both the parts of the contact, i.e. for total value of construction as well as for supplie,J material for the period between 29-Ol-2O18 and 27-Og-ito 19 to the tune of Rs.3,99,45,3291- is illegal. Therefore, petitioner is stated to have made representation on 20-10-2019 before the Deputy Commissioner of Labour, Karimnagar, Telangetna. On 30-LO-2O2O, they submitted representation to the aul.horities concerned for assessment of BOCW Cess along with prescribed form-Il for return of overpaid cess ,) t 4

2.2. Petitioner further stated that on consideration of representation and material submitted in support of their claim, the Joint Commissioner of Labour, Warangal, under Section 5(1) of the BOCW Cess Act read with Rule 7(1) of Cess Rules, 1998 passed an order for refund of total amount of cess paid in excess, amounting to Rs.2,06,78,O06. It is further contended that as per Rule-8(4), the Board shall refund the amount to the employer, within 3O days through a Demand Draft, on receipt of .# the order from the Assessment Officer. Accordingly, petitioner submitted representations on 09.LO.2023, 26.O2-2O24, LO.O6.2O24, O5.O9.2O24 and 15.11.2024 for refund of the amount.

3. Respondents 2 and 3 liled counter stating that the principal employer of the schedule work is M/s Gujarat State Petronet Limited. The work assigned to the contractor involved engineering,. supply, laying & commissioning of Mallavaram t Bhopal Bhilvara Vijaypur Pipeline Project. The total value of the + project is Rs. 686,73,0g, OTOl- and this amount falls under the delinition of Section-2(d) of the Building & Other Construction workers (Regulation of Employment & conditions of Service) Act, 1996, therefore, petitioner obtained Registration Certificate under the said Act from the Labour Department and Rs.3,99;15,3291- was deducted from the amount payable to 5 them. On completion of work, petitioner made a representation to the As,sessment Officer for final assessment. The Assessment Officer Jrassed an order holding that petitioner paid excess amount of Rs.2,06,78,OO61- and ordered for refund of the excess p.aid amount.

3.1. It is also stated, the Commissioner of Labour & Appellat,: Authority appointed under the Act has taken up reviewf s;uo motu appeal of the impugned order under Rule-14(5) of the Act and passed the order on 05. lO.2O23 by remanding the matter to the Assessing Oflicer and Joint Commissioner of Labour :o rectify the observation made by the authorities.

4. Petitioner submitted that when this Writ Petition No.5471 of 2025 was taken up for hearing, learned Government Pleader has brought to the notice of the Court that Assessment Order passed by the Assessing Officer has been re-viewed by the Appellate Authority and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration as per the observations made by the Appellate Authority

5. Writ Petition No. 13195 of 2025 is filed questioning the orders passed by the l"a respondent - Appellate Authority uide proceedings No. E/ 18212022 dated 05. 1O.2O23.

6. The main contention of petitioner is that the impugned order under challenge is without jurisdiction and \ a 6 E illegal since there is no power conferred upon the authority concerned to exercise the power to take up the appeal or review it as suo mofit. Besides the power of the Appellate Authoriqr, the other contention is similar, as raised in the first round of litigation in Writ Petition No. 5471 of 2025.

7. Per contra, learned Government pleader for Labour stated that assessment made by the assessing authority is not as per the norms and the judgments. The judgments referred to by petitioner are not on similar grounds as the case on hand.

8. Heard Sri Sravanth Parachuri, learned counsel for petitioner in both the Writ Petitions.

9. The order of the Appellate Authority has been forwarded to the assessing authority for reconsideration, as per the observations made and the matter is pending before the assessing authorit5r for re-assessment of the order. [n view of the facts mentioned above, writ petition No. s47l of 2025 has become infructuous in view of the order passed by the Appellate + Authority'uid.e proceedings No. E/ t8212O22 dated OS-\O-2O23. Therefore, Writ Petition No. 5471 of 2ol25 is dismissed.

10. Proceedings dated O5.LO.2O2S which were challenged in writ Petition No. 13195 of 2o2s on the ground of the power of the Appellate Authority to take up the Appeal suo motu is presently pending before assessing authorit5r. This i / 7 is therelbre, of the opinion that petitioner can now agrtate on all the grounds available to them which have been raised in this writ Petition for reconsideration of tlle issue in question, by making a detailed representation to the authority within four weeks from the date of this order, and thereafter, the Authorities are directed to dispose of the sEune within three months. It is needless to clarify that this court has not expressed any opinion including the issue of power of the Authority and directs the Authority to consider the representation of petitioners and pass appropriate orders.

11. Writ Petition No. 13195 of 2O2S is accordingly, disposed of. No costs.

12. Consequently, the miscellaneous Applications, if any shrtll stand closed //TRUE COPY// -1 SD/.P. PONNA KRISHNA ISTANT REGISTRAR SECTION OFFICER I Department, To SA

1. The Principal Secretary, La Secret;ariat Buildings, State bour Employment and of Telangana at Hyde

2. The Crtmmissioner of Labou r, H.No. 1- 1-18t73 TAKS Bhavan, RTC X Roads, Hyderabad 500020, Telangana

3. The Arlditional Commissioner of Labour, (Secretary and C E_O_), T9_19!'tga!? Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board(T-BO9WWA), H.No. 1-1-18frc TAKS Bhavan, RTC X Roads, Hyderabad 500020., Telangana. 4. The Joint Commissioner of Labour, Chaitanyapuri Colony, Prashanthnagar, Waran gal, Hanamkonda, Telangana.

5. Two CCs to GP FOR LABOUR, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderrrbad. TOUTI

6. Ohe CC to SRI LAKSHMIKANTH REDDY DESAI, Advocate IoPUC] 7. Two CD Copies M,- HIGH COIJRT DATED:0!9/01 12026 COMMON ORDER WP.Nos.:5471 AND 13195 of 2025 r S i (J 2 2 JAN 2026 * :4. {:) .4\ ,? a DISPOSING BOTH THE WRIT PE:TITIONS WITHOUT GOSTS a 'rtl&-.,..