- (1.) The petitioner entered into a contract on 23 September 2010 with the Irrigation Department inter alia for the supply of bolders, ropes for labourers and sand bags. The grievance is in regard to non payment of the bills. The petitioner seeks a mandamus to the State, the Chief Engineer and the Executive Engineer in the Irrigation Department to pay the bills together with interest.
(2.) These are purely contractual matters and we are not inclined to entertain a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution in this regard. Whether the work under the contract has been satisfactorily carried out; whether the rates quoted are in accordance with the terms of the agreement and the applicable schedule of rates; whether the work has been carried out properly are issues which have to be addressed, among other questions, by the competent authority before an appropriate decision is taken. The jurisdiction of the Court under Article 226 of the Constitution cannot appropriately be exercised in such matters. The remedy of the contractor, if he is aggrieved by non payment, would be to either file an ordinary civil suit or if there is an arbitration agreement between the parties, to invoke the terms of the agreement.
(3.) Reliance has, however, been placed on an order passed by a Division Bench of this Court on 31 January 2014 at an interlocutory stage in Anirudh Prasad Verma vs. State of U.P. and others, Writ - C No.- 5944 of 2011 in which it was observed upon perusing the counter that though it appeared that an amount had been sanctioned in the year 2011 and necessary budget allocation was also made but the amount had not been released. The Division Bench directed the Chief Engineer (Gandak) to remain present before the Court together with a Bank draft of the admitted amount together with interest. This was an interim order passed by a Division Bench in the peculiar facts and circumstances of a particular case.;