K.Abdul Rehiman vs. Kerala Police Housing And Construction Corporation LTD
Held
The High Court held that the termination notice and termination order were arbitrary and illegal, as they were issued even before the revised estimate, which addressed the petitioner's genuine concerns, was communicated. The Court also found the unilateral revision of the estimate and the imposition of a penalty for delayed agreement execution to be unjustified. It set aside the termination orders.
Facts
A Class-B Contractor was awarded a construction contract for a new Police Station. After commencing work, he identified inadequacies in the Bill of Quantities (BOQ) and suggested revisions, which were followed by a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. The respondents subsequently issued a revised estimate unilaterally and then terminated the contract, even before officially communicating the revised estimate to the petitioner.
Key Issues
The key legal issues were whether the termination of the contract was arbitrary and illegal given the circumstances, including the COVID-19 lockdown and the respondents' delay in addressing BOQ inadequacies, and whether a revised estimate could be prepared unilaterally without the contractor's concurrence.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.NAGARESH MONDAY, THE 4TH DAY OF JANUARY 2021/14TH POUSHA, 1942 WP(C).No.14903 OF 2020(K) PETITIONER: K.ABDUL REHIMAN,THOTTARIKIL PURAYIDOM, KALANJOOR P.O., PATHANAMTHITTA. BY ADVS. SRI.R.JAIKRISHNA KUM.NARAYANI HARIKRISHNAN RESPONDENTS: 1 KERALA POLICE HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LTD,CHANDRASEKHARAN NAIR STADIUM, PALAYAM, VIKAS BHAVAN P.O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - 695 033, REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR. 2 CHIEF ENGINEER, KERALA POLICE HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LTD., CHANDRASEKHARAN NAIR STADIUM, PALAYAM, VIKAS BHAVAN P.O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM -695 033. 3 PROJECT ENGINEER, KERALA POLICE HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LTD., OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, NEAR RAILWAY STATION, KOLLAM H.P.O., KOLLAM – 691 001. R1-R3 BY ADV. SRI.C.K.GOVINDAN R1-R3 BY ADV. SRI.L.P.ARAVINDAKSHAN THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 04-01-2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
WPC No.14903/2020 : 2 : N. NAGARESH, J. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` W.P.(C) No.14903 of 2020 `````````````````````````````````````````````
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