Hima Kohli, J.

1. The plaintiff has instituted the present suit against the defendants/MCD under Order XXXVII CPC for recovery of a sum of 28,34,441/-.

2. The admitted facts of the case are that the plaintiff is a contractor and has been executing works of construction for the defendants/MCD for the past several years. In or around the year 2005, the defendants/MCD had invited tenders for improvement/widening of the parking space in Green Park Main Market in C-13/South Zone. In response to the said invitation, various parties, including the plaintiff herein, had submitted their tenders. At the time of submission of tender, the plaintiff had deposited earnest money of Rs.44,500/- and the balance amount of security was to be deducted from the bills thereafter. Finally, the work was awarded to the plaintiff vide Work Order dated 08.07.2005 for a contractual amount of Rs.21,85,937/-. The date stipulated for commencing the work was 17.07.2005. However, the work actually commenced on 20.07.2005 and as per the plaintiff, due to the delay on the part of the defendant/MCD, the work was finally completed on 27.10.2007, whereas the defendants’ stand is that the work was completed on