- (1.) Challenging the vires of Section 3(1) of the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996 and also challenging the vires of Rule 3 of the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Rules, 1998 and praying for other reliefs, the petitioner has filed this writ petition.
(2.) The petitioner is a consortium comprising of M/s.Abhijeet Infrastructure Limited and M/s.Corporate Ispat Alloys Limited with M/s.Abhijeet Infrastructure Limited as its lead member. The petitioner is the agreement holder for construction, operation, maintenance and transfer of NH 33. The concessional agreement was entered into between the petitioner as the concessionaire and National Highway Authority of India for four laning of Barhi-Hazaribagh Section from km 0.00 to 40.500 of NH 33 in the State of Jharkhand on "Design, Built, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT)? Toll basis under NHDP Phase III Project. For carrying out the aforesaid construction of four laning of Barhi-Hazaribagh Section of NH 33 from km 0.00 to km 40.500, the petitioner has appointed EPC Contractors/Sub-Contractors, namely, (i) Abhijeet Projects Limited the Contractor, (ii) Shakambari Niketan Pvt. Ltd. and (iii) Yash Builders Pvt. Ltd. Sub-Contractors.
(3.) The case of the petitioner is that the aforesaid construction of four laning of Barhi-Hazaribagh Section of NH 33 from km 0.00 to km 40.500, the labour component involved in EPC Contractor/Sub-Contractors is very small, that is about 15-20% of the total cost incurred by them. While so, the National Highways Authority of India issued a letter dated 9.6.2012 to the petitioner-company enclosing a letter of Audit Officer, Government Audit Team, National Highways Authority of India, New Delhi, by which it was, interalia, decided for making deduction at source at the rate of 1% of the cost of construction incurred by the petitioner-company.;