IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 19463 of 2008 Between: M/s. G.V.R. Infra Projects Ltd., (formerly known as M/s. G.V.R. Constructions Pvt. Ltd.,) 10-5-35, Flat No.301, Quality Residency, Ahmad Nagar, Hyderabad, rep. by its AGM – Finance Sri K.V.R.S.S.Sarma ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Principal Secretary - Finance & Planning (Works & Projects), Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Hyderabad. 3 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Khammam 4 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Nellore. 5 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Chittoor. 6 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Kadapa. 7 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Visakhapatnam. 8 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Vizianagaram. 9 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle, Nalgonda. 10 The Superintending Engineer, R & B Rural Circle N.H., Hyderabad. 11 The Executive Engineer, R & B Roads Division, Hyderabad. 12 The Executive Engineer, R & B City Roads Division, Hyderabad. 13 The Executive Engineer, R & B Radial Roads Division, Hyderabad. 14 The Executive Engineer, R & B Vikarabad Division, Hyderabad. 15 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Khammam. 16 The Executive Engineer, R & B Special Division, Kothagudem. 17 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Bhadrachalam 18 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Nalgonda. 19 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Miryalaguda. 20 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Nellore. 21 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Gudur. 22 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Tirupati. 23 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Visakhapatnam. 24 The Executive Engineer, R & B Division, Vizianagaram. 25 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad. 26 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Head Quarters, Hyderabad. 27 The Pay & Accounts Officer, N.S.P., Tekulapalli, Khammam. 28 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Nalgonda. 29 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Telugu Ganga, Nellore. 30 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Visakhapatnam. 31 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Vizianagaram. 32 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Tirupati. 33 The Pay & Accounts Officer, A.P.A.O. Nellore. 34 The Pay & Accounts Officer, Kadapa. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction: (1) declaring the Memo No.602/F8(1)/2006, dated 14.03.2007 issued by the ﬁrst respondent is arbitrary, illegal, invalid, contrary to the provisions of the A.P. Value Added Tax Act, Rules made there under, G.O.Ms.No.11, dated 29.07.2005 and G.O.Ms.No.141, dt.27.07.2006 and unsustainable. (2) the petitioner is entitled for addition of VAT Component of 4% on the entire value of work done at the time of payment of each bill in terms of provisions of G.O.Ms.No.11, dated 29.07.2005 and G.O.Ms.No.141, dt.27.07.2006 and Sec.22(3) of the A.P.VAT Act. (3) declaring the action of the Respondents in adding only 1.4% to the estimated cost of work and deducting 4% towards VAT at the time of payment of each bill in respect of some works as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the A.P. Value Added Tax Act and the Government Orders in force as well as the terms of the Agreement, (4) consequently direct the respondents herein to pay the diﬀerence 2.6% amount on the total of the works, to the petitioner, (5) award costs and to pass such other suitable orders as this court may deem ﬁt and proper under the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.C.RAGHU Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR FINANCE & PLANNING The Division Bench of this Court made the following order : THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE T. MEENA KUMARI AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No. 19463 OF 2008 O R D E R : ( Per the Hon’ble Smt. Justice T. Meena Kumari) 1. The writ petition is ﬁled seeking a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction: ( 1 ) declaring the Memo No.602/F8(1)/2006, dated 14.03.2007 issued by the ﬁrst respondent is arbitrary, illegal, invalid, contrary to the provisions of the A.P. Value Added Tax Act, Rules made there under, G.O.Ms.No.11, dated 29.07.2005 and G.O.Ms.No.141, dt.27.07.2006 and unsustainable. (2) the petitioner is entitled for addition of VAT Component of 4% on the entire value of work done at the time of payment of each bill in terms of provisions of G.O.Ms.No.11, dated 29.07.2005 and G.O.Ms.No.141, dt.27.07.2006 and Sec.22(3) of the A.P.VAT Act. (3) declaring the action of the Respondents in adding only 1.4% to the estimated cost of work and deducting 4% towards VAT at the time of payment of each bill in respect of some works as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the A.P. Value Added Tax Act and the Government Orders in force as well as the terms of the Agreement, (4) consequently direct the respondents herein to pay the diﬀerence 2.6% amount on the total of the works, to the petitioner, (5) award costs and to pass such other suitable orders as this court may deem ﬁt and proper under the circumstances of the case. 2. When the matter came up for admission, Sri C. Raghu, the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted across the bar that this Court by following the ratio laid down in WP.No.484 of 2008, dated 18-1-2008 disposed of WP.No.15855 of 2008 on 04-8-2008, which reads as hereunder: THE HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE T. MEENA K8MARI AND THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN. WRIT PETITION NO. 1 5 8 5 5 of 2008 O R D E R : (Per Hon’ble Smt. Justice T. Meena Kumari) Heard both sides. At their request, the writ petition itself is taken up for disposal at the stage of admission. At the time of hearing, the learned counsel on either side submitted that the issue raised in this writ petition is squarely covered by the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in WP.No. 484 of 2008, dated 18-1-2008. However, learned Special Government Pleader for Commercial Tax submitted that though the petitioner states that it has paid 4% tax on the entire work done, it has to be ascertained while processing the final bill. Following the ratio laid down in the above referred judgment, the writ petition is, accordingly, allowed with a direction to the respondents not to remit any further amount in respect of deductions already made pursuant to the memo, dated 14-3-2007 of the ﬁrst respondent, while processing the ﬁnal bill, however, subject to the payment of 4% which is stated to have been made by the petitioner. It is needless to mention that, as agreed by the counsel on either side, the balance of 2.6% has to be added by the respondents in the bills. 3. Following the ratio laid down by this Court in WP.No. 484 of 2008, dated 18-1-2008, this writ petition is disposed of at the stage of admission. No costs. However, the Registry shall cause annexing of a copy of the order passed by this Court in WP.No.484 of 2008, dated 18-1-2008 as part of this order. ________________________ JUSTICE T . MEENA KUMARI , ______________________________ JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN, 15-9-2008. I s L N B : 1) Operative Portion of the order by wire at party’s costs. 2) Furnish CC of the order in three days. B/o. I s L ... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{MSN}