High Court · 2025

?etition uhder Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue an appropriate writ or order or direction more particularly a writ in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the Respondents in withholding an amount of Rs.83,B l0/- lying towards balance final security deposit and Rs. 1 4,93 ,7611- lying with them towards Final Biil thereby totaling to Rs.15,77,5711- (Rupees Fifteen Lakhs Seventy Seven Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy One Only/.) despite making innumerable representations as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14 and Article 19(i Xg) of the constitution of lndia and consequently direct the Respondent herein to release an amount of Rs.83,8101 lying towards balance final security deposit and Rs.14,93,76i1 lying with them towards Final Bill thereby totaling to Rs.1 5,77,5211 (Rupees Fifteen Lakhs Seventy Seven Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy One Only) with interest 24percent p.a. from the date the amounts fell due . lA NO: 1 OF 2023 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 Respondents herein to consider the representations of the petitioner and release the amount of Rs.83,810/- lying towards balance final security deposit and Rs.'14,93,76 1A lying with them towards Final Bill thereby totaling to Rs.15,7t,5711_ (Rupees Fifteen Lakhs seventy Seven Thousand Five Hundred and seventy one Onlyl) in a time bound manner. Counsel for the Petitioner: M/S INOUS LAW FIRM Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4: Gp FOR ROADS BUILDINGS Counsel for the Respondent No.S: cp FOR FINANCE PLANNING The Court made the following: ORDER flON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGF,SH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITIONS No. lOA29 OF 2023 ORDER: This Writ Petition challenges that action of the respondents in withholding Rs.83,8l0/ tow.ards balance final security deposit and Rs.14,93,761 /- towards final bill, totalling Rs.75,77,571/- despite making innumerable representa tion s. Consequently, petitioner seeks a direction to releasc the said amount with interest at 24%o per annum from the date the amount fell due. '2. Petitioner, it is stated, had successfully and sa[isfactorily executed the works, details of works, dale of con-rpletion, last date of defect liability have been mentioned in paragraph 3 of the affidavit, by entcring into corresponding agreements, duly depositing amount towards final security deposit which has to be returned in terms of Clause 42.3.), of thc Agreement. In terms of the above clause, the defective liability period of 24 months is also over, however, respondents, have been dodging the payments for no reason. In fact, petitioner is stated to have submitted umpteen number of representations, both oral and written, the latest being the one 2 dated 02.03.2023 requesting release of amounts, horvever, respondents arc noL acting upon the same. Thrs Court, b1' order dated iA.O4-2023, directed

3. iespondents to consider representation ol petitioner dated O2.O3.2O23 for release of Rs.83,810/- lying towards balance final security deposit and Rs.14,93 ,761 l- lyirrg towards final bil1, totalling Rs.15,77,571/- within ten days from the date of receipt of a copy of the said order.

4. In this case, respondents have not filed any counter-afhdavit. Learned counsel for petitroner M/s Indus Law- Firm filed a me mo of calculation stating that during the pendency of Writ Petition and in terms of the interim order dated 20-O4.2023. rcspondent authorities have remitted principal amount of Rs.15,77,571/- but failed to deposit interest amount accrued over a period of time. Hence, he seeks a direction to rcspondents to pay the interest component. Learned counsel relies on rhe judgments of the Honble Supreme Court in TAMGEDCO Ltd. a. T.T. Industries Limitedl and that of this Court in M/s Ragha ua-HES-Na uaguga (JV) a, State oJ Telangana (ViI.P.No, 12825 of 2023) and contends that petitioner is entitled to intere st for the delayed payment. ' (2otu ) 5 scc: s:o J trvidently, Clause 43 of the Agreement deals rvith 5. 'lnterest on Money due to the contractor' lt specifies, 'No omission by the Executiue Engineer or the Sub diuisionol Off'cer to paA the amount due upon certifcotes shall uitiate or make uoid the contract, nor shall the contractor be entitled to interest upon ona guararLtee fund or paaments in arrear, nor on ana balance uthich mag, on the final settlement of his accounts, found to be d-ue to l'tim'. The said clause clearly says that contractor is not entitled to interest on any payments in arrear nor on any balancc rvhich are found to be due. ' If the contract contains specific clause which 6- expressly bars payment of interest, then, it is not open for the Court to grant pend-ent life interest This decision is supported b1' thc juclgment in Union of India a' Manrai Enterprises2 relied on by the learned counsel for respondents Here' it is also to be remernbered that a party to a contract is only iegally- bound to lulhl the speciflc duties and responsibilities explicitly oullined within the written terms and conditions of the agrcemcnt and cannot be held liable for anything outside of those stated parameters; essentially, the Court will interpret the contract strictly based on the agreed-upon terms and will not impose additional obligations not clearly dehned in the contract' '(2otl) 2 scc il I ( I I 7 . In the light of the same, the judgments relied on by learned counsel for petitioner, in somervhat different set of facts and circumstances, are ol no help to the ease on hand. This Court, therefore, of thc consiciered opinion that petitioner is not entitled to claim inierest on the Earnest Money Deposil, hence, Writ Petition is liable to be dismissed.

8. costs.

9. The Writ Petition is accordingly, dismissed. No Consequentiy. the miscellaneous ApplicationS, if any shall stand closed. //TRUE COPY// l \T SD/. K. AMMAJI TANT REGISTRAR SECTION OFFICER To,

1. One CC to tvl/S lndus Law Firm, Advocate [O 2 TwoCCstoGPforRoadsBuildings,HighCourtfortheStateofTelangana' at Hyderabad [OUT] Two CC to The GP for Finance and Planning' High Court for the State of Telangana, at HYderabad[OUT] Two CD CoPies 4 TJ GJP cl4? HIGH COURT DATED:1 210212025 ORDER WP.No.10829 of 2023 1: o+ + J 2 6 i,in ?tih i t) F.g.,,^--.-,r- '' *22 DISMISSING THE WRIT PETITION WITHOUT COSTS offf*x