IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION No.14255 of 2008 Between: K.Venkateswara Rao S/o.Veerabhadra Rao R/o.H.No.57-9-27, Jagannaickpur, Kakinada, East Godavari District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Secretary, Housing, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 Director of Municipal Administration, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 3 Kakinada Municipal Corporation, Kakinada, rep. by its Commissioner, East Godavari District. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, order or direction declaring the action of the respondents in not paying the amounts due to him for the works executed by him as shown in Sl.Nos.1 to 7 in page No.1 of his representation dt.7.6.2008 as also not recording measurements for the works executed by him as shown at Sl.Nos.1 to 6 in page No.2 of the said representation as illegal, arbitrary and grant such other relief or reliefs. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.V.V.L.N.SARMA Counsel for Respondents 1 & 2: GP FOR MUNCIPAL ADMN. & URBAN DEV. Counsel for Respondent No.3: Mr. S. NAGESWAR REDDY The Court made the following: THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION No.14255 OF 2008 ORDER: It is the case of the petitioner, who claims to be Class V Contractor registered with the 3rd respondent Corporation, that in respect of some of the works executed by him, bills were approved and they have been pending with the Accounts Section since long time, and in respect of some other works, the officials of the 3rd respondent Corporation have not recorded the measurements and, as such, he submitted several representations to the 3rd respondent requesting to release the amounts under pending bills and to record measurements for the other completed works and process the bills for payment of the amounts due to him. It is the grievance of the petitioner that the said representations have not been considered and, therefore, he again submitted another representation dated 07.06.2008 to the 3rd respondent, copies of which were marked to the respondents 1 and 2, submitting the details of works in respect of which bills have been pending with Accounts Section since long time and measurements to be recorded, and requesting to make arrangements for payment of amounts in respect of the said bills and also to furnish the information, under Right to Information Act, regarding the stage where the bills are pending and why they are so and also as to why measurements are not being recorded for the completed works, but the said representation is also not yet considered. Hence, this writ petition. In the counter-affidavit filed by the 3rd respondent, it is stated that the petitioner has executed only the works shown at Sl.Nos.1 to 4 in the second page of his representation dated 07.06.2008, in respect of which measurements to be recorded, and that the works at Sl.Nos.5 and 6 were not entrusted to him. It is further stated that the information sought by the petitioner in his representation was communicated to him vide proceedings dated 14.07.2008. With regard to the bills pending with Accounts Section, it is stated that the financial position of the Corporation is not sound enough and, therefore, the bills of not only the petitioner, but the other contractors also, are pending for payment. In view of the acceptance of the 3rd respondent Corporation in its counter-affidavit that the petitioner has executed four works, this Court, on 17.12.2008, by order in W.P.M.P.No18406 of 2008, directed the petitioner to approach the respondents to look into the measurement book and complete the other formalities such as presenting agreement etc., and further directed the respondents that, on such perusal and completion of formalities, the amounts with regard to those four items, which were said to have been completed, shall be released in favour of the petitioner within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. Today, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the 3rd respondent Corporation submits that the Corporation is intending to clear all the bills of the petitioner and pay the amounts within a period of six weeks, except for the works shown at Sl.Nos.5 and 6 in the second page of his representation, since they were not at all entrusted to him. The above submission of the learned Standing Counsel is recorded and the respondents are directed to pay the petitioner the amounts payable in respect of the works that are not in dispute, within a period of six weeks from today, as agreed. So far as the bills in respect of the works shown at Sl.Nos.5 and 6 in the second page of the petitioner’s representation dated 07.06.2008 are concerned, in view of the stand taken by the respondent Corporation that those works were not entrusted to the petitioner, the petitioner is directed to submit a detailed representation to the 3rd respondent, along with relevant material to prove that those works were entrusted to him and he has completed them. On such representation being filed, the 3rd respondent Corporation shall consider the same on the basis of the material produced by the petitioner and pass necessary orders. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. _________________ JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA 27th January, 2009 IBL