V L BHARGAVA Vs. BALWANT SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE owners contended that plaintiff No.1 is a well known gynecologist and plaintiff No.2 is a retired Army Officer and brother of plaintiff No.1. They jointly purchased a land measuring 743.15 sq.mtrs. bearing No.49 on Pine Drive in Malibu Town, District Gurgaon, Haryana, by a registered sale deed dated 29th March, 2000. The physical possession of the plot was handed over on 5th May, 2000. After getting the possession, the plaintiffs contemplated the construction of a residential house on the said plot and, therefore, they arranged for a loan to the tune of Rs.27,00,000/- from HDFC Limited.

(2.) FOR the purposes of construction, a contractor was also required and since defendant No.1, Shri Balwant Singh, had been doing contract job for Sita Ram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research where plaintiff No.1 was working as a Senior Consultant, he was asked to quote his rates for material and labor, so that the construction could be carried out. According to the owners, the builder/defendant No.1 gave an item-wise list of rates for construction of structure of the proposed house. The rates quoted by the defendant No.1 were accepted and he also promised to complete the construction by April 2002. The defendant No.2, is the son of defendant No.1 and he also works with him and he also acted as an agent of defendant No.1, his father, from time to time.

(3.) IN March 2001, the basement structure foundation walls and pillars were near completion and, therefore, defendant No.1 demanded more money and he was asked to submit a written bill. The defendant No.1, therefore, submitted a bill of Rs.10,59,798/- for the work done till March 2001. After the said bill, the defendant No.1 claimed a further sum of Rs.2,00,000/- in advance towards the estimated costs for the construction of a backside boundary wall. The defendants represented that in case the advance demanded by them is not paid, they would be unable to speed up the work. Consequently, in the interest of work and without verifying the actual measurements at the site and in good faith, the owners gave a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- in cash to defendant No.2 and another sum of Rs.1,00,000/- was paid in cash to defendant No.2 on 9th April, 2001 as ,,on account payment.