K.L.D. CREATION INFRASTRUCTURE PVT. LTD Vs. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (TECHNICAL)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Devansh Mishra, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. S. Ghosh, learned counsel appearing for respondents No.1 and 2 as well as Mr. Kohinoor N Bhattacharjee, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.3 and Mr. Bidyut Majumder, learned Dy. SGI appearing for respondent No.4.

(2.) Writ petitioner, being the successful tenderer, entered into agreement dtd. 24/5/2021 (Annexure-3) with the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. for execution of the following work:

(3.) As per the terms of the agreement, the date of commencement of work was 8/6/2021 and date of its scheduled completion was 6/12/2022. As per the case of the writ petitioner, the execution of the work encountered certain impediments which led to delay in its timely completion. Petitioner took a plea that the Right of Way had not been provided free from encumbrance; mobilization of men and machinery by the agency could not take place in time due to the adverse weather conditions such as excessive rains and outbreak of a pandemic during execution of the project. Petitioner has referred to Annexure-4 series, which are correspondences written by the petitioner indicating the delay not attributable to the contractor. The Regional Officer, Agartala, NHIDCL had issued a letter on 24/2/2022 indicating the intention to terminate the petitioner EPC contractor for his defaults under articles 23.1.(i)(c), 23.1.i(e) and 23.1.i(p) of the contract agreement. The EPC contractor had submitted its representation on 9/3/2022 which is Annexure-6 to the writ petition indicating that there were some serious health issues with the Managing Director of the company which badly affected the progress of the project. They had tried to achieve the financial progress of the work programme according to article 10.1(iii) of the contract agreement but could not be achieved. As per them, the physical progress of work up to 28/2/2022 was 5.4% of the contract amount but it could not be converted in financial progress because stage payment statement had not been submitted and approved by the Authority Engineer till date.