A Siva Prasad Reddy vs. The State Of Andhra Pradesh
Original PDF →Facts
The petitioner, a contractor, sought payment of Rs. 9,04,358/- for work completed under an agreement, after receiving quality and work completion certificates. The respondents admitted liability but cited budget non-release as the reason for non-payment.
Held
The Court directed the respondents to release the admitted amount of Rs. 8,77,770/- based on the quality control certificate within two months. The court also noted that any interest payment would be subject to the agreement's terms.
Key Issues
The primary issue was the arbitrary non-payment of final bill amounts for completed work despite issuance of completion certificates. The court also considered the petitioner's claim for GST and other deposits.
Sections Cited
Article 226
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORDER:-
This writ petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking the following relief: “….to issue any writ or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in non-payment of the final bill amounts to a tune of Rs.9,04,358/- for the work covered under Agreement No.100 and M/DN/2020-21 Dated 11-05-2020 even after issuance of Quality Certificate and Work Completion Certificate in 2020 itself as illegal, arbitrary and consequently direct the respondents to pay the bill amounts to a tune of Rs.9,04,358/- along with EMD, F , GST and other Security Deposits without any further delay in the interests of justice…”
The petitioner had been awarded the contract of work(s) by the Irrigation Department. After execution of the said contract, the respondents also issued quality control certificates to a tune of Rs.8,77,770/-. As the payment of the said amounts has not been made by the respondents, the petitioner has approached this Court by way of this writ petition.
It is the contention of the petitioner that even though the respondents admitted that the petitioner is entitled for payment of the aforesaid sum of money, no payment is being made. The W.P.NO.30216 OF 2025 petitioner contends that such non-payment of money is clearly arbitrary and high-handed requiring the interference of this Court.
This Court, in various orders, including the judgment of a learned Single Judge of this Court dated 05.10.2021 in W.P.No.10038 of 2021 and batch had taken the view that such non-payment of dues is arbitrary and that such dues need to be cleared by the respondents at the earliest.
On the other hand, learned Government Pleader on oral instructions stated that since the budget was not released by the Government, the bills were not paid to the petitioner. Soon after release of the budget by the Government, the bills will be paid to the petitioner, however, the respondents admitted the amount payable to the petitioner as per the quality control certificates filed by the petitioner to a tune of Rs.8,77,770/-.
Though the petitioner claimed an amount of Rs.9,04,358/- as per the agreements, however, agreed to dispose of Writ Petition basing upon the quality control certificate issued by the respondents dated 10.08.2020 to a tune of Rs.8,77,770/- within a period of two months.
W.P.NO.30216 OF 2025
In view of the facts and circumstances submitted in the affidavit, and the directions of this Court in various cases and after hearing the submissions of learned counsel for the petitioner, this writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to release the amount to the petitioner in accordance with the quality control certificate dated 10.08.2020 issued by the respondents within a period of two (02) months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs.
As far as interest component is concerned, if there is any subsisting clause in the agreement/work order envisaging payment of interest upon any amount which is due and payable, the same is binding upon both the parties.
Consequently, Miscellaneous Petitions, if any, pending in this Writ Petition shall stand closed. ____________________ JUSTICE V.SUJATHA Date :18.11.2025 JLV W.P.NO.30216 OF 2025 155 THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE V.SUJATHA
WRIT PETITION NO: 30216/2025
2025 JLV
Reproduced from the public record of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.