ROSHAN LAL VOHRA Vs. MCD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners, in these proceedings under Article 226, challenges an order dated 02.08.2011 by which it was blacklisted by the respondent - South Delhi Municipal Corporation which succeeded to the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The blacklisting order was to subsist till 23.3.2011.

(2.) Briefly, the facts are that the petitioner was awarded a contract for certain works by the Corporation on 19.02.2008; the period of completion of the contract was 18 months. The Corporation contended that despite issuance of reminders and letters cautioning that performance of the work was unsatisfactory and unnecessarily delayed, the petitioner took no remedial measures. It, therefore, terminated the contract on 16.3.2009 and sought to levy the penalty of Rs.36,84,846/-. Those were challenged by the writ petitioner. Its writ petition was dismissed; consequently, it preferred an appeal - L.P.A. No.778/2010, which is pending on the file of the Court.

(3.) In the meanwhile, the Corporation had issued a blacklisting order (concurrently along with the termination order). That was the subject matter of another writ proceedings WP (C) 8130/2009. The petitioner's complaint then was that the principles of natural justice had not been followed and the blacklisting order was not preceded by any opportunity of hearing. This Court allowed the petition and quashed the order (hereafter referred to as first blacklisting order) on 1.7.2009. In the wake of this development on 13.9.2010, the Corporation issued a show cause notice and, pending enquiry, issued an order directing the suspension of the petitioner from amongst its enlisted contractors. This order - dated 13.09.2010 - was challenged in WP (C) 6718/2010; the writ petition was dismissed. The suspension order ultimately culminated in the order impugned in the present proceedings dated 2.8.2011 whereby blacklisting was directed for a period of six months ending on 23.3.2012.