A genuine pre-estimate of liquidated damages agreed upon by the parties is recoverable without proof of actual loss.

Mr. S. Ravindra Bhat, J.

1. The present appeal questions the judgment and order of a learned single judge, which decreed in part a civil suit filed by the respondent (Punj Lloyd). The said plaintiff, Punj Lloyd has also preferred cross objections, which were heard finally, with the consent of counsel for parties. The said cross objections shall be treated as admitted; the Registry shall accordingly register it and appropriately number it. The record of the suit and the proceedings before the learned single judge were called for and were part of the appeal file at the time of hearing, of this appeal.

2. Punj Lloyd sued to recover Rs. 29,15,07,084.80/- from the appellant (hereafter “GAIL”) The suit amount was deducted towards interim liquidated damages in terms of Clause 57.2 of the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) to which the present disputants were parties. Punj Lloyd complained that GAIL had withheld amounts on account of the liquidated damages deducted for interim stages delays in the completion of works, in exercise of GAIL’s rights under Clause 57.2 of the SCC from Punj Lloyd’s bills.

3. GAIL was to lay down gas pipelines for transportation of re-gasified natural gas originating from Petronet LNG Terminal at Dahej in Gujarat and terminating at Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh. This and other associated facilities was called the DAHEJ-VIJAIPUR Pipeline Project (DVPL Project). It consisted of four parts (called “spreads”). The invitation for bids described the spreads as follows:-

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

4. Punj Lloyd submitted its bid for spreads I, II and III from DAHEJ to Jagoti for a pipeline length of 423 kms consisting of spreads I, II and III. It also bid for overall commissioning of the four spreads for the Project. It was awarded the laying of pipeline work for the Spreads I, II and III. Spread IV was awarded to another bidder M/s RNGS. Punj Lloyd was also awarded the commissioning contract for the entire DVPL Project- for all four spreads. GAIL’s Fax of Intent (FOI) intimating the grant of contract for laying of the pipelines for three spreads and for the commissioning of the entire pipelines of all four spreads was dated 05.05.2003 (Ex.PW2/2). The detailed Letter of Acceptance was issued on 14.05.2003 (Ex.PW2/3). The Contract Agreement was executed on 31.05.2003 (Ex.PW2/4).

5. The contractual time schedule for spreads I, II and III for laying pipeline, the completion schedule/period prescribed was as follows:-

SPREAD	DETAILS	COMPLETION PERIOD
I.	Dahej to Vemar	7 Months up to pre-commissioning II.
II.	Vemar to Sherpura	7½ Months up to pre-commissioning
III.	Sherpura to Jhabua	7½ Months up to pre-commissioning
IV.		Jhabua to Jagoti

6. With respect to commissioning of the DVPL Project, the completion period (Clause 45.1 of the General Conditions of Contract (GCC)) prescribed for Dahej to Vemar was 3 weeks for overall commissioning; Vemar to Sherpura was 6 weeks for overall commissioning, as was in the case of Sherpura to Jhabua and Jhabua to Jagoti. 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 was 22.2.2004 and the actual date of completion of commissioning of all the spreads was 10.4.2004. It is, therefore, seen that with respect to the pre-commissioning date there is a delay from 19.12.2003 to 22.2.2004 i.e delay of approximately 65 days. So far as the date of final commissioning of the complete DVPL Project is concerned, the actual date of completion was 10.4.2004 instea