JUDGMENT :

J.B. PARDIWALA, J.

1. This litigation disappoints us a lot. This is a litigation in which the State (principal) is telling the contractor (writ-applicant) that we did award a work of contract in your favour during the period of crisis, i.e. during the Covid pandemic lockdown, to be completed within a period of ten days from the issue of the work order. The State says that it did fix the terms and conditions of the contract, including the rates to be paid to the contractor. The State further says that the contractor did a remarkable job by completing the entire work to its satisfaction within a period of ten days. The State also says that, in accordance with the work order and the rates fixed, the contractor may be entitled to claim the requisite amount. However, in the end, the State says that we will not pay the full bill amount to the contractor as the State now believes that the fixation of the rates at the relevant point of time was a very hasty decision on their part and that the rates fixed at the relevant point of time were on a higher side.

2. The aforesaid st