APHC010158272023 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3327] WEDNESDAY, THE 12th DAY OF AUGUST 2026 PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K SREENIVASA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO: 8120/2023 Between: 1. ARIKATLA ANJALI, W/O. VENKATESWARLU, AGED 38 YEARS, OCC. AGRICULTURE, R/O. H. NO. 2-61 D, CHENNAREDDIPALLI (V), TARLUPADU MANDAL, PRAKASAM DISTRICT. ...PETITIONER A N D 1. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, REPRESENTED BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, PANCHAYAT RAJ AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, SECRETARIAT, VELAGAPUDI, GUNTUR DISTRICT. 2. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, REPRESENTED BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, FINANCE AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT, SECRETARIAT, VELAGAPUDI, GUNTUR DISTRICT. 3. THE COMMISSIONER, PANCHAYAT RAJ AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH, NH -16, TADEPALLI, GUNTUR DISTRICT. 4. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR PANCHAYAT WING, PRAKASAM DISTRICT. 5. THE MANDAL PARISHAD DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, TARLUPADU, PRAKASAM DISTRICT 6. THE PROJECT DIRECTOR, DWMA, ONGOLE, PRAKASAM DISTRICT. 7. CHENNAREDDIPALLI GRAM PANCHAYAT, REPRESENTED BY ITS PANCHAYAT SECRETARY, TARLUPADU MANDAL, PRAKASAM DISTRICT. 8. UNION OF INDIA, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, NEW DELHI. 9. THE DIRECTOR, MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS), MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, KRISHI RHAVAN, NEW DELHI. ...RESPONDENT(S): SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 2 Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not releasing the amounts of Rs.4,10,074/-, Rs.3,65,165/- and Rs.1,74,293/- to the petitioner towards cost of the material supplied by him in pursuance of MGNREGS works executed under convergence funds as illegal, arbitrary and violative of provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 and unconstitutional and consequently direct the respondents to release undisputed final bill amount of Rs.4,10,074/-, Rs.3,65,165/- and Rs.1,74,293/- to the petitioner along with interest forthwith and to pass IA NO: 1 OF 2023 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased pleased to direct the respondents to release undisputed final bill amount of Rs.4,10,074/-, Rs.3,65,165/- and Rs.1,74,293/- to the petitioner along with interest forthwith, pending disposal of the main writ petition and pass Counsel for the Petitioner: 1. RAMESH BABU TALLURI Counsel for the Respondent(S): 1. VENKATA REDDY GAJJALA SC FOR ZPP, MPP, AND GRAM PANCHAYAT 2. GP FOR FINANCE PLANNING 3. GP FOR PANCHAYAT RAJ RURAL DEV 4. Mattegunta.Sudhir,Standing Counsel For Z.P.Ps,M.P.Ps,Gram Panchayats The Court made the following: SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 3 O R D E R Heard learned counsel for the Writ Petitioner, learned Assistant Government Pleader for the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Finance and Planning, learned Standing Counsel for Gram Panchayat, learned Standing Counsel for Central Government, and the learned Standing Counsel for MGNREGS. 2. This Writ Petition is filed seeking the following relief: “….to issue an appropriate Writ, Order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the respondents in not releasing the amounts of Rs.4,10,074/-, Rs.3,65,165/-, and Rs.1,74,293/- to the petitioner towards cost of the material supplied by him in pursuance of MGNREGS works executed under convergence funds, as illegal and arbitrary, and consequently, direct the respondents to release the undisputed final bill amounts of Rs.4,10,074/-, Rs.3,65,165/-, and Rs.1,74,293/- to the petitioner along with interest forthwith, and pass such other order or orders …” 3. The petitioner claims to be a Civil Contractor. In the year 2017, the respondent No.5 entrusted the work of supply of material for execution of providing gravel/sand gravel for newly formed roads in Tarlupadu Mandal. Accordingly, the petitioner executed the work within the stipulated time. The material supplied was entered in the Measurement Book Nos.B/19331/2017-18, B/19307/2017-18 and B/19332/2017-18 and identity numbers were allotted to the said works SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 4 vide ID Nos.081201007011170125, 081201007011170126, and 081201007011170129. The respondent No.5 inspected the work and recommended bill to 6th respondent for processing the payment. The Quality Control checkup was also done by the Quality Control Team on 20.11.2017 and no recommendation was made to recover any amount from the material supplied by the petitioner. (b) It is the grievance of the petitioner that though she executed the entire work within time, the respondent authorities kept pending the amounts of Rs.4,10,074/-, Rs.3,65,165/-, and Rs.1,74,293/-. Even though the petitioner approached the respondent authorities on multiple occasions, requesting for payment of aforesaid pending bill amounts, they are not paying the said sum. According to petitioner, having executed the work satisfactorily, within the prescribed time, non-payment of the bills amount was arbitrary and unjustified. It was further contended that the delay in payment is causing severe financial hardship, necessitating the filing of the present Writ Petition seeking appropriate directions for release of the outstanding amount. 4. Today when the matter is taken up for hearing, learned Standing Counsel for Gram Panchayat, on written instructions received from the Panchayat Secretary, Chennareddipalli Gram SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 5 Panchayat, Tarlupadu Mandal, Prakasam District-7th respondent, submits that in pursuance of MGNREGS, the petitioner executed the work under convergence funds. He further submits that as per the Proceedings of 6th respondent-Project Director, DWMA, Ongole, Prakasam District, vide in Rc.No.D2/141/EGS/2023, dated 28.06.2023, the amount was already paid to the petitioner. Learned counsel further submits that the Estimated Cost for the work ID Nos.081201007011170125, 081201007011170126, and 081201007011170129 are Rs.96,761/-, Rs.79,280/-, and Rs.71,730/-, respectively, and the amounts paid to the petitioner are Rs.35,450/-, Rs.37,305/-, and Rs.16,791/-, and in total, a sum of Rs.89,546/- was paid to the petitioner through Demand Draft No.79382/-, dated 15.07.2023 as per QC Team Report, and the petitioner acknowledged the said payment. The Written instructions are placed on record. 5. The issue raised in the present Writ Petition is squarely covered by the Order of this Court in Rayapureddy Srinivasa Rao and others v. Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Principal Secretary to Government and others and others1 and batch in which the Writ Petitions are allowed with the following directions: 1 2021 SCC Online AP 3084. SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 6 (i) The Memo No.1263069/RD.II/A1/2020, dated 05.11.2020 and the Memo No.1388361/RD.II/A1/2020, dated 12.05.2021 issued by the Respondent NO.1 are set aside to the extent of deduction of 21.02% for DCC works and 6.333% for MCC works while making payment to the petitioner. (ii) The respondents are directed to clear the bills submitted by the petitioner and to release payment forthwith, in case no payment is made till date. (iii) In case, any part payment is made as on date, the remaining amount shall be paid to the petitioner forthwith. (iv) The respondents shall pay interest @ 12% per annum within a period of four (4) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. (v) The interest shall be compound from the date of expiry of one month from the date of submission of the bill by the petitioner to till the date of final payment. 6. Against the above said order, several Writ Appeals are filed and in one of the Writ Appeals (i.e.) Writ Appeal No.724 of 2021, a Division Bench of this Court has passed an interim Order, dated 18.11.2021 as extracted hereunder: “The direction of the learned Single Judge regarding payment of interest to the respondent No.1 as also setting aside the provision in Memo No.1263069/RD.II/A1/ 2020, dated 05.11.2020 and the Memo No.138861/RD.II/A1/ 2020, dated 12.05.2021 relating to deduction of 21.02% for DCC works and 6.333% for MCC works, while making payment, shall remained stayed. SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 7 On a query of the Court, learned Advocate General submitted that the direction of the learned Single Judge as far as payment of the principal amount of the bills raised by the original writ petitioner, in terms of the order of the Division Bench in Krishna District Grama Panchayathi Sarpanchla Sangam (supra), shall be made within four weeks, if already not done. The matter be listed for hearing in due course. It is clarified that the appellants shall comply with the rest of the directions issued by the learned Single Judge in the judgment under appeal.” 7. Subsequently, a Division Bench of this Court headed by the Hon‟ble the Chief Justice while hearing the Writ Appeal Nos.740 and 741 of 2021, having considered the Order passed in Writ Appeal No.724 of 2021, passed the following Order: “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and having regard to the interim order passed by the Coordinate Bench, we direct that the said interim order shall apply for the present Writ Appeals also, however, with a condition that the appellants shall pay the principal amount of the bill raised by the original Writ Petitioners, within a period of four weeks, failing which the present interim order shall stand vacated without reference to the bench.” 8. The learned counsel for the petitioner requested the Court to clarify the applicability of the Memo No.1263069/RD.II/A1/ SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 8 2020, dated 05.11.2020 and the Memo No.138861/RD.II/A1/2020, dated 12.05.2021. 9. The learned Assistant Government Pleader for Panchayat Raj submitted that the said Memos are issued for the works executed under „Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme‟. Therefore, it is made clear that the Memo No.1263069/RD.II/A1/2020, dated 05.11.2020 and the Memo No.1388361/RD.II/A1/2020, dated 12.05.2021 are applicable to the works executed under „Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme‟ only. 10. A perusal of the material on record coupled with the submission made by the learned Standing Counsel for Gram Panchayat goes to show that there is no dispute with regard to execution of work by the petitioner under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. But, it is the contention of learned Standing Counsel for Gram Panchayat that as per the Proceedings of 6th respondent-Project Director, DWMA, Ongole, Prakasam District, in Rc.No.D2/141/EGS/2023, dated 28.06.2023, the amounts as claimed by the petitioner, were already paid to her. SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 9 11. A perusal of the written instructions goes to show that the estimated cost for the work are Rs.96,761/-, Rs.79,280/-, and Rs.71,730/-, but the amounts paid to the petitioner are Rs.35,450/-, Rs.37,305/-, and Rs.16,791/-, respectively. According to the learned Standing Counsel, the petitioner was paid with a total sum of Rs.89,546/- through Demand Draft No.79382/-, dated 15.07.2023. Except stating the above, it is silent with regard to balance claim amount as claimed by the petitioner and it is also not stated as to whether the balance amount was paid to the petitioner or not. A perusal of the contents of the Writ affidavit goes to show that the Quality Control Team inspected the work on 20.11.2017 and no recommendation was made to recover any amount from the material supplied by the petitioner, and the same is not disputed by either of the respondents. 12. Therefore, having regard to the entire facts and circumstances of the case, since the work executed by the petitioner is admitted and undisputed, the respondent authorities are directed to pay the balance/admitted amounts, after deducting the amounts i.e. Rs.35,450/-, Rs.37,305/-, and Rs.16,791/- that were already paid to the petitioner on 15.07.2023, from out of the claim amounts, to the SRK, J W.P.No.8120 of 2023 10 petitioner within a period of Six (6) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 13. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs of the Writ Petition. As a sequel thereto, the miscellaneous applications, if any, pending in this Writ Petition, shall stand closed. JUSTICE K. SREENIVASA REDDY 12th August, 2026. DNB Whether the Order is: Speaking ✓ Reasoned Reportable Non-reportable ✓