Valmiki J. Mehta, J.

1. This is a suit for recovery of Rs.29,15,07,084.80/- filed by the plaintiff/M/s Punj Lloyd Ltd against the defendant/Gail India Ltd. The suit amount claimed is the amount which the defendant has deducted towards interim liquidated damages as per Clause 57.2 of the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC). Putting it in other words the plaintiff claims through this suit the value of the work done by the plaintiff for the defendant but unpaid to the plaintiff on account of the liquidated damages deducted by the defendant for interim stages delays in completion of works in exercise of defendant’s rights under Clause 57.2 of the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) from the bills of the plaintiff.

2. The facts of the case are that the defendant was to lay down gas pipelines for transportation of re-gasified natural gas originating from Petronet LNG Terminal at Dahej in the State of Gujarat and terminating at Vijaipur in the State of Madhya Pradesh. The laying of the pipelines and other associated facilities was called the DAHEJ-VIJAIPUR Pipeline Project (DVPL Project) and the same comprised of four spreads/parts. These four parts called spreads as per the invitation for bids were as under:-

SPREAD DETAILS TOTAL LENGTH (IN KMS)

I. DAHEJ to Sherpura 169.9

II. Sherpura to Jhabua 100.8

III. Jhabua to Jagoti 152.3

IV. Jagoti to Vijaipur 193.3

3. Plaintiff submitted its bid for spreads I, II and III from DAHEJ to Jagoti for a pipeline length of 423 kms comprised in spreads I, II and III. Plaintiff also submitted bids for overall commissioning of the four spreads for the DVPL Project. Plaintiff was awarded the laying of pipeline work for the spreads I, II and III. Spread IV was awarded to another bidder M/s RNGS. Plaintiff was however awarded the commissioning contract for the entire DVPL Project for all the four spreads. The defendant’s Fax of Intent (FOI) intimating the plaintiff with respect to grant of contract for laying of the pipelines for the three spreads and for the commissioning of the entire pipelines of the four spreads is dated 5.5.2003 (Ex.PW2/2). The detailed Letter of Acceptance is dated 14.5.2003 (Ex.PW2/3). The Contract Agreement is dated 31.5.2003 (Ex.PW2/4). As per the contract awarded to the plaintiff for spreads I, II and III for laying pipeline, the completion schedule/period prescribed was as under:-

SPREAD DETAILS COMPLETION PERIOD

I. DAHEJ to Vemar 7 Months up to pre-commissioning

I. Vemar to Sherpura 7½ Months up to pre-commissioning

II. Sherpura to Jhabua 7½ Months up to pre-commissioning

III. Jhabua to Jagoti 7½ Months up to pre-commissioning

The above period of commencement of seven months/seven and a half months is from 5.5.2003, the date of FOI.

4. So far as the commissioning of the DVPL Project is concerned, the completion period as per Clause 45.1 of the General Conditions of Contract (GCC) was prescribed as under:-

SPREAD DETAILS COMPLETION PERIOD

I. Dahej to Vemar 3 weeks for overall commissioning

II. Vemar to Sherpura 6 weeks for overall commissioning

III. Sherpura to Jhabua 6 weeks for overall commissioning

IV. Jhabua to Jagoti 6 weeks for overall commissioning

5. Therefore the stipulated dates of completion upto the stage of pre-commissioning and the period added thereto for commissioning resulted in the final dates of commissioning of the DVPL Project with its four spreads as under:-

SPREAD DETAILS COMPLETION PERIOD

I. DAHEJ to Vemar 4th December 2003 upto pre-commissioning & commissioning by 25th December 2003

I, II & III Vemar to Jagoti 20th December 2003 upto pre-commissioning

I, II, III & overall commissioning of the project including spread IV DAHEJ to Vijaipur 30th January 2004 upto pre-commissioning

6. As compared to the scheduled date for pre-commissioning being 19.12.2003 (seven or seven and a half months from 5.5.2003) and the scheduled date for commissioning of the entire DVPL Project as 30.1.2004, the actual completion date for spreads I, II and III to the pre-commissioning stage wa