IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD TUESDAY, THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO and THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO : 894 of 2002 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated ______ in WP NO : 4038 OF 1993 on the file of the High Court.) Between: ..... APPELLANT AND .....RESPONDENT Counsel for the Appellant:MR.T.SURYA KARAN REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR MEDICAL HEALTH & FAMI.WELFARE The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO AND THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO.894 OF 2002 JUDGMENT: (Per SK,J) The unsuccessful petitioner in Writ Petition No.4038 of 1993 assails the order dated 27.02.2002 passed by the learned single Judge dismissing the writ petition. The appellant/writ petitioner is an Assistant Engineer in the Public Health Sub-Division of the State, at Khammam, and was subjected to disciplinary proceedings with regard to excess payments made to the tune of Rs.1,33,914.29 ps to the fourth respondent Contractor. By proceedings dated 29.09.1992 the Engineer-in-Chief, Public Health, A.C. Guards, Hyderabad, imposed upon him the punishment of stoppage of three annual grade increments with cumulative effect apart from recovery of Rs.45,662.65 ps. from the appellant. Aggrieved by the action of the State in seeking to recover the excess amount paid to the Contractor from him, the appellant filed the subject writ petition seeking a direction to the State authorities not to make any further payments to the fourth respondent Contractor in respect of bills pertaining to other works and to remit and adjust the said amount towards the excess payments made to the fourth respondent Contractor. The appellant placed reliance on para 62(b) of the A.P. Detailed Standard Specifications (for brevity, ‘APDSS’), which states to the effect that in the event of over-payment or wrong payment made to a Contractor due to wrong interpretation of the provisions of the contract, the APDSS or otherwise, such unauthorized payment may be deducted in subsequent bills or the final bill of the work or from the bills under any other contract with the Government or at any time thereafter from his security deposits available with the Department. Sri T.Suryakaran Reddy, learned counsel appearing for the appellant, submitted that the learned single Judge while construing the provisions of para 62(b) of the APDSS lost sight of the fact that the excess payment or wrong payment is not only relatable to the wrong interpretation of the provisions of the contract or APDSS but also for any other reasons, as indicated by the use of the words “or otherwise” in the said provision. He submitted that the appellant had approached the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal (for brevity, ‘the APAT’), aggrieved by the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him, in O.A.No.3250 of 1993. By Judgment dated 27.11.1996, the APAT allowed the said O.A. setting aside the order of punishment passed against the appellant, granting liberty to the State to proceed further with the disciplinary enquiry against the appellant after furnishing him a copy of the enquiry report and after affording him an opportunity of making a representation. This order is said to have become final. Thus, as the matter stands, the disciplinary action sought to be taken against the appellant has been nullified by the order of the APAT and it is not open to the authorities to seek to recover the sum of Rs.45,662.65 ps. from him. Further, it was open to the State to recover the excess amount from the Contractor in accordance with law, by taking recourse to para 62(b) of the APDSS. Unless the State had taken steps pursuant to the orders of the APAT in O.A.No.3250 of 1993 to continue the disciplinary proceedings against the appellant, the doors are closed so far as effecting recovery of the excess amounts from the appellant are concerned. The Writ Appeal is accordingly disposed of with the above observations. No costs. ______________________ B.PRAKASH RAO, J. _____________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J. 18th August, 2009. VGSR / PGS