SANJEEV PRASHAR Vs. EXECUTIVE ENGINEER AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this petition, a prayer has been made for appointment of Arbitrator.

(2.) The petitioner is a Government contractor. He was awarded the work namely, (C/o SNP (SH:- RCC Trough on ground & on pedestal for distribution system of distributor D-2 from RD 5210/0 to 2140 Mtr. i/c road crossing at RD, 500, 1300 and 1800 of LBC (CZ). He entered into an agreement after negotiation conducted on 8th June, 2011. He failed to complete the work within the stipulated period, therefore, the respondentdepartment has levied penalty upon the petitioner @ 10% of the contract amount vide Annexure Ab-10. He preferred an appeal and the Superintending Engineer has reduced the amount of penalty from 10% to 5% and the petitioner was informed accordingly vide order Annexure Ab-11 dated 24.01.2013. It is thereafter final settlement was made in the matter of payment of final bill to the petitioner on 27.07.2013.

(3.) It has now been claimed that no penalty could have been imposed upon the petitionercontractor as the delay in execution of the work was not attributed to him but to the respondent-department, as the site was not handed over to him well in time. The petitioner, therefore, has disputed the levy of penalty upon him to the tune of Rs. 6,19,862/- and 1% of the cost of awarded work i.e. Rs. 1,23,972/-. The respondentdepartment has deducted the amount of penalty so levied and made the final payment.