JUDGMENT :

A.K. Sikri, J.

All these appeals involve the lis of an identical nature. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is the appellant in these appeals. Respondents in different appeals are the contractors who were awarded the contracts by the appellant/NHAI for construction of roads etc. The terms and conditions on which the contracts were to be executed are identical in all these cases, as the standard form contract was signed by the parties. Dispute had arisen about the interpretation that is to be given to sub-clause 70.3 of Conditions of Particular Application (COPA) of the contract which contains ‘Price Adjustment Formula’. The tender document of the NHAI, modeled upon generic FIDIC construction contracts, envisage that since the estimation of work including the rates, prices and costs of various items of work is done on the basis of prices/costs of materials, labour and other inputs prevailing on and around the date of the submission of bid, ‘Price Adjustment’ (also generally known as Price Escalation/Variation) is needed so as to protect both the parties in cases