JAGANNATH Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:

(2.) However, the second prayer of the petitioner may have to be considered. Grievance of the petitioner is that though he has completed the work of construction of platform with the seating arrangement/capacity of 10,000 persons at Shravanabelagola Temple on the occasion of Manamastabhisheka in the year 2007, he is not paid the entire dues. According to him, the final bill of the petitioner is not settled. Thus, he prays for a direction to refer the issue of payment of bill in terms of Clause 29(1)(iii) of General Rules and Directions for the Guidance of Contractors ('Guidelines' for short).

(3.) Clause 29 of the Guidelines deals with Settlement of Dispute and Time Limit for Decision. It makes clear that if any dispute of difference of any kind whatsoever were to arise between the Executive Engineer/Superintending Engineer and the contractor relating to contract, the dispute shall be referred to the Chief Engineer who has jurisdiction over the work specified in the contract. The Chief Engineer shall, within a period of 90 days from the date of being requested by the contractor to do so, give written notice of his decision to the contractor and the Chief Engineer's decision is final. According to the petitioner, he has already requested the Chief Engineer as per Annexure-E, dated 19-6-2012 to resolve the dispute. However, the Chief Engineer has not taken any action as per law.