HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW WRIT - C No. - 10115 of 2025 Court No. - 3 HON'BLE SHEKHAR B. SARAF, J. HON'BLE PRASHANT KUMAR, J. 1. Heard learned counsel appearing on behalf of the parties. 2. The present writ petition has been filed with the following main reliefs: "(i) Issue a writ, order, or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the Opposite Parties to forthwith release the retention money of Rs. 57,46,952/- (Rupees Fifty-Seven Lakh Forty-Six Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty-Two only) along with interest at the rate applicable to Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDR), which has been illegally withheld despite completion of the contractual work and expiry of the Defect Liability Period. (ii) Issue a writ, order, or direction in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction directing the Opposite Parties to comply with their statutory, contractual, and financial obligations in a fair, transparent, and lawful manner. (iii) Issue a writ, order, or direction declaring that the arbitrary and unlawful withholding of the Petitioner's retention money by the Opposite Parties is illegal, arbitrary, and violative of the principles of natural justice, equity, and Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India." 3. Upon perusal of the writ petition, it is patently clear that the work was completed by the petitioner in the year 2021 and the defect liability period Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari, Kanak Pathak, Shailaja Mishra Counsel for Respondent(s) : C.S.C. M/S Nirbhay Construction Thru. Proprietor Nirbhay Pratap Singh .....Petitioner(s) State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Public Works Deptt. And 2 Others .....Respondent(s) ended on 16th December, 2023. It is clear that once the defect liability period was over, the money that had been retained by the Government was required to be paid immediately to the petitioner. 4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents has not been able to give any plausible reason for the delay of almost two years in making the said payment to the petitioner. The only reason that appears is the paucity of funds available with the Government. 5. The above submission that the State of U.P. is unable to make the payment to the petitioner as the State does not have money to make the payment and requires further time to make the said payment cannot be countenanced by us. The excuse for non-payment is absurd and without any basis in law and facts whatsoever. 6. In light of the same, we direct the Executive Engineer being respondent No.3 herein to make the payment of the retention money of Rs. 57,46,952/- (Rupees Fifty-Seven Lakh Forty-Six Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty-Two only) to the petitioner along with penal interest for the inordinate delay @ 9% per annum interest starting from 17th December, 2023. The above money should be paid within a period of three weeks from date. 7. In the event, the above money is not paid within a period of three weeks, further penal interest @ 6 % per annum shall be payable to the petitioner, the interest starting from 17th December, 2023. 8. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of. October 28, 2025 Ashutosh WRIC No. 10115 of 2025 2 (Prashant Kumar,J.) (Shekhar B. Saraf,J.) Digitally signed by :- ASHUTOSH PANDEY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench