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2022 DIGILAW 1125 (JHR)

Pradeep Kumar v. State of Jharkhand

2022-09-08

RAJESH SHANKAR

body2022
JUDGMENT : The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of direction upon the concerned respondents to pay admitted dues to the petitioner for successfully completing the construction work of approach road to Primary Health Centre, Lacharagarh, Simdega for which final bill was passed and a cheque of Rs.5,84,774/- was issued but the said amount could not be paid to the petitioner due to shortage of fund. 2. A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent nos. 4 and 5 stating inter alia that bill for the said work was passed by the concerned Division of the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand before creation of the Jharkhand State Building Construction Corporation Limited (JSBCCL) and cheque no. 351436 dated 19.03.2016 for an amount of Rs.5,84,774/- towards final bill of the petitioner for the work in question was issued by the Executive Engineer, South Chotanagpur Division, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Namkum, Ranchi, however the said cheque was not cleared by the concerned treasury due to unavailability of fund. It has further been stated that the admitted dues of the petitioner as per the records will however be paid by the respondent- JSBCCL at the earliest. In the said process, the Executive Director, JSBCCL, vide letter no. 1796 dated 28.06.2019, requested the Deputy Secretary, Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand to release the required fund so as to make payment of admitted dues for the said work to the petitioner. 3. Considering the aforesaid stand taken by the respondent nos. 4 and 5 in their counter affidavit, it is apparent that the work executed by the petitioner is not in dispute. Earlier, a cheque for an amount of Rs.5,84,774/- was issued to the petitioner, however the same was not cleared by the concerned treasury due to unavailability of fund. After creation of Jharkhand State Building Construction Corporation Limited, the admitted amount of bill for the said work is to be paid by it to the petitioner and for allotment of fund, a request has already been made to the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand. 4. After creation of Jharkhand State Building Construction Corporation Limited, the admitted amount of bill for the said work is to be paid by it to the petitioner and for allotment of fund, a request has already been made to the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand. 4. Under the aforesaid circumstance, this Court is of the view that the respondents cannot be allowed to linger the issue with regard to payment of admitted dues to the petitioner for the said work for unreasonable period. Hence, the respondent no. 2- The Principal Secretary, Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand is directed to make the required fund available to the respondent no. 5-the Managing Director, Jharkhand State Building Construction Corporation Limited within a period of eight weeks so as to make payment of admitted dues to the petitioner for the work in question. On receipt of the said fund/allotment, the respondent no. 5 shall release the payment of admitted bill amount to the petitioner for the work in question within three weeks thereafter. 5. The writ petition is disposed of with aforesaid observation and direction.