THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.15465 OF 2010 DT.12.07.2010 Between: R.Rama Mutyalu, W/o.Venkateswara Rao, Aged 40 years, Occ: Business, R/o.14-6,Boat Office Street, Dowlaiswaram, East Godavari District ……..Petitioner Vs. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep.by its Secretary, Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Dept., Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad And two others ……..Respondents. THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.15465 OF 2010 O R D E R: The petitioner, a labour contractor, undertook sanitation works for the Gram Panchayat, Dowlaiswaram, East Godavari District, in pursuance of the short tender notification dated 04.04.2009. The contract extended over the period 12.04.2009 to 31.03.2010. A sum of Rs.22,80,000/- is allegedly due to her in respect of this contract from the Gram Panchayat. She claims to have made representations dated 11.03.2010 and 31.03.2010 seeking payment of the said amount. Complaining of inaction on the part of the Gram Panchayat, the present writ petition is filed. Though this Court would not normally entertain matters which are purely contractual in nature under Article 226 of the Constitution, the failure on the part of a State functionary in discharging its contractual obligation by withholding lawful amounts due under a contract involves an element of public law interest and this Court cannot remain immune to the same. On instructions, the learned standing counsel for the Gram Panchayat stated in the first instance that the amount claimed by the petitioner was actually due to her, but on the next occasion he stated that there may be some dispute with regard to the actual quantum. This appears to be a lame attempt to raise some dispute so as to shut out the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution. Be that as it may, once the Gram Panchayat admits its liability to pay a substantial amount to the petitioner, it cannot delay such payment on wholly unwarranted grounds. The Gram Panchayat offered to pay a sum of Rs.3,50,000/- immediately to the petitioner with a request to stagger the balance payment over a period of time. Keeping in mind the facts of the case, the writ petition is disposed of directing the Gram Panchayat, Dowlaiswaram, West Godavari District to make the payment of a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees five lakhs only) to the petitioner within one week from the date of receipt of a copy of this order and pay the balance admitted amount to her within six months from today. The amounts in dispute, if any, shall abide by the resolution of such dispute by the competent authority or by the civil Court, as the case may be. The writ petition is disposed of with the above directions. There shall be no order as to costs. ________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J. Dt.12.07.2010 Rns