AJAY KUMAR RAI Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this Public Interest Litigation, the petitioner seeks for a direction to the respondents to get the matter relating to the alleged large scale bungling and misappropriation of public fund by granting contract work to those contractors who have been debarred from participating in the tender investigated by an independent agency and bring it to its logical conclusion and seeking for a further direction to take legal action against the guilty persons who, according to the petitioner, have misappropriated the public money.

(2.) The case of the petitioner is that the work order given to the contractors are not being carried out strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions laid down in the Agreement and the contractors purposely delaying the execution of work only to get revised estimate at a higher cost in connivance with the officials of the department causing loss of public money and inconvenience to the public. It is the further case of the petitioner that the Road Construction Department taken up the matter seriously and debarred 52 contractors, including Jai Maa Kali Construction and Dipanshu Promoters & Builder Pvt. Ltd. who have not completed the work even after six months of prescribed period for completion of work and also on extended period and revised estimate and they were debarred from all future tenders by an order issued by the Engineer-in-chief, Road Construction Department vide memo no.3084 dated 4.5.2012.

(3.) The petitioner has alleged that M/s Jai Maa Kali Construction changed the name of the firm as Kali Durga Construction Pvt. Ltd. and get its earlier registration renewed in the new name by office order dated 19.1.2011. It is further alleged that M/s Jai Maa Kali Construction by changing the name as Kali Durga Construction Pvt. Ltd. with the same registration number has participated in tender for construction of series of Check Dam over (a) Rasia Nala; (b) Shakha Jora of Sukhandia Nadi & (c) Gutgutwa Nala under Chhatarpur Block of Palamau district, in which all the tenders were cancelled and the said firm Kali Durga Construction Pvt. Ltd. was declared as an eligible contractor in the meeting of the tender committee held on 13.10.12 and the tender was alloted to the said firm on escalated rate.