JUDGMENT :

Ashok Kumar Panda, Member (J)

1. The petitioner a proprietorship organisation has filed this reference petition under Section 7 of the Chhattisgarh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 (in short the Adhiniyam, 1983) against the respondents for an award of Rs. 51.93 lakhs and Pendente-lite and Post-lite interest on the claim amount.

2. The facts not in dispute are that, the respondents invited tender for construction and maintenance of rural road under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, Phase VI (year 2006-07) for package No. CG-10-26 for district Korba (C.G.) and this contractual work was awarded to the petitioner, an agreement bearing No. 5/DL/2007-08 (Article "A") was entered into and between the petitioner and respondents on 06/06/2007, work order (Ex. D-3) was issued on 07/06/2007, stipulated period for completion of work was 12 months including rainy season accordingly, the construction of work was to be completed on 18/05/2008, the contract amount for construction of road was Rs. 324.86 lakhs and the cost of maintenance of the road for 5 years from the date of completion of the work was at Rs. 8.49 lakhs, total amounting to Rs. 333.35 lakhs. The construction work could