Page No.# 1/5 GAHC010229332023 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/5961/2023 NORTH EAST ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD AND ANR A COMPANY INCORPORATED UNDER THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013, HAVING ITS OFFICE AT FLAT NO A-4, 4TH FLOOR, HERASATULLAH ENCLAVE, S.K BHUYANROAD, DIGHALIPUKHURI, GUWAHATI, KAMRUP(M), ASSAM, REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR, SRI ROHITASBHOMIA, AGED ABOUT 58 YEARS, SON OF RAJENDRA KR BHOMIA 2: ROHITAS BHOMIA SON OF RAJENDRA KR BHOMIA DIRECTOR OF NORTH EAST ENVIRO TECH PVT LTD HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AT FLAT NO A-4 4TH FLOOR HERASATULLAH ENCLAVE S.K BHUYANROAD DIGHALIPUKHURI GUWAHATI KAMRUP(M) VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS REPRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM, DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS, DISPUR , GUWAHATI. 2:GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS COMMISSIONER GUWAHATI. 3:ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GUWAHATI GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GUWAHATI Page No.# 2/5 4:CHIEF ENGINEER GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GUWAHATI 5:ADDITIONAL CHIEF ENGINEER GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GUWAHATI 6:EXECUTIVE ENGINEER MSWM (PROJECT) GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GUWAHATI 7:JUNIOR TECHNICAL OFFICER MSWM (PROJECT) GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GUWAHAT Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. U K NAIR, MS. SUDAKSHINA K.,MR B KAUSHIK,MS A M DCOSTA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, GMC, SC, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA ORDER 09.04.2025 Heard Mr. K.N. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. S. Hazarika, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. S. Bora, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the Guwhati Municipal Corporation (GMC). The petitioner is aggrieved by the amount released of the bills raised for works executed by the petitioner. The petitioner is a company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 and is a small enterprise as per the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. The respondent authorities have issued a work order dated 04.09.2021 vide the Work Order No.GER/Div-VI/56/2021/30 for the period of 6 (six) months. The petitioner was awarded the work for supply of Trommels on hire basis in capacity of 300 MT per Page No.# 3/5 day with 75/100 mm of screening and the rate offered by the petitioner was declared as a lowest quoted bidder in terms and conditions in respect of uses of the Trommels and the payments thereto are specified in the work order itself. The work order was initially issued for 6 (six) months, subsequently, it came to be extended from time to time by issuance of separate order. The last extension was made on 01.06.2023 for one month. The work was duly completed by the petitioner. However, after the bills were raised, the amounts stated to be payable to the writ petitioner remained pending, with the respondents failing to release the funds. Ultimately, the matter was decided by the GMC in the minutes of the meeting for clearing the outstanding liabilities of the work and authenticate the writ petitioner. By the said minutes the committee decided to recommend for the release of the bills of the contractor without any deduction for lesser output of the Trommels as against the daily targeted one. Mr. S. Bora, learned Standing Counsel for GMC, submits that since the committee has already resolved the period for the bills, the writ petition can be closed with a direction to the respondents to clear the bills in accordance with the procedure of law. The learned counsel for the parties have been heard. Pleadings have been carefully perused. It is seen that there is no dispute that the petitioner had completed work allotted. The initial work order was subsequently extended for time to time. The various terms and conditions under which the work was executed are mentioned in the work order itself including the extensions subsequently issued. From the pleadings available on record it is seen that the dispute raised by the respondent authority towards release of the bills is on the aspect as to whether any deduction was called for in respect of the lesser output of the Trommels as against the daily targeted output. Although initially there were different views in the department, ultimately by the minutes dated 18.07.2024 the department agreed to release the bills. The minutes Page No.# 4/5 dated 18.07.2024 is extracted below: OFFICE OF THE GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION MSWM Project Office::Dispur-Ganeshguri Guwahati-781006 No. GER/MSWM(P)53/2023/37 Date:18/07/2024 Minutes of the meeting for clearance of outstanding liabilities for the work "Hiring of 02 Nos. Trommels with capacity of 300 MT per day each with 30-40 mm and 75-100 mm Screening” held on 18/07/2014 at 3.30 P.M. in the Office of the Joint Comirulexioner, GMC The meeting was presided over by the Joint Commissioner, Guwahati Municipal Corporation. The Committee was informed that today's meeting, has been convened to discuss on the pending bills for the work "Hiring of 02 no's Trommels with capacity of 300 MT per day each with 30-40 mm and 75-100 mm Screening" for the period from 09/03/2023 to 08/06/2023. The processing of the bills are pending for a long time due to lack of collective decisions over the issue of lesser output of the hired trommels engaged for waste processing in the Belortol dumping ground. Since there was no clause regarding any threshold performance out-put and neither there was any specific condition in RFP for deduction against such conditions, the concerned engineers had put up the files for a direction from the authority regarding this, because the out-put of the engaged trommels was less that what was targeted due to various field constraints and adverse ground conditions. After threadbare discussion among the officials, following decisions were taken:- 1. The Committee discussed the details of the nature of works carried out during the execution time. The work was executed in accordance with systemic provision of component of waste segregation process using trommels at Belortol. 2. From record, it has been found that the daily targeted quantity of waste processing could not be achieved due to the systemic difficulties and adverse site conditions. On detailed discussion and from inputs from the site-engineers, it was accepted that the out-put of trommels was dependent upon many factors including the supporting machineries and services from part of the employer. 3. It was also observed that there is not any specific condition in the contract for deduction of any amount from contractor's bill for lesser outputs than the targeted output. Considering all the conditions and the ground reality of the un-organized dump-site, the committee decided to recommend for release of the bill of the contractor without any deduction for lesser out-put of the trommels against the daily targeted one. However, all other deductions at source will be made as per rule. Page No.# 5/5 The concerned Engineers will process the bills accordingly and submit it for releasing the payment The meeting ended with vote of thanks from the chair. Enclosed: Signatures of the members present in the meeting. JTO, MSWM(P), GMC PO, GMC Executive Engineer,i/c, MSWM (P) GMC Executive Engineer, CE Branch, GMC Superintending Engineer, GMC Chief Engineer, GMC Assistant Commissioner, GMC CA & AO, GMC Joint Commissioner cum Chairman, GMC Memo No:- GER/MSWM(P)/53/2023/37-A Date: 18/07/2024 Copy to:- 1. The Commissioner, GMC, for favour of kind information. 2. Members of the Committee. 3. Office file. Joint Commissioner cum Chairman, Guwahati Municipal Corporation Guwahati Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and taking into consideration the submissions made and also upon perusal of the minutes dated 18.07.2024, this Court is of the view that the writ petition can be closed at the stage with the direction to the respondent authorities to ensure that the bills raised by the writ petitioner in respect of the works executed for the work of “Hiring of two numbers of Trommels with capacity 300 MT per day each with 30-40 mm and 75-100 mm Screening” as expeditiously as possible. The amount should be released within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of the certified copy of this order. Writ petition accordingly disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant