JUDGMENT :

1. In the present writ petition, the petitioner has primarily prayed with regard to issuance of writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondent- Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation ("GSRTC/ Corporation" for short) to make payment of Rs.36,82,301/- with 12% interest from the date of invoice till the amount is actually paid to the petitioner.

2. At the outset, learned advocate Mr.Jeet Bhatt, appearing for the petitioner has been submitted that pursuant to the order dated 15.02.2019 passed in the present writ petition, the petitioner has already paid 60% amount from the outstanding amount in 05.09.2019, however 40% of the remaining amount and interest is still not paid.

3. The petitioner was given a Purchase Order dated 25.07.2017 by the respondent-Corporation in view of the tender issued on 09.03.2017 for the purpose of outsourcing of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) based examination process for recruitment in the respondent-Corporation. Accordingly, the petitioner undertook the recruitment process of rechecking the bench-wise status of each test centre and finalized the seating plan (room-wise) of around 22,613 candidates, which was conducted on 5th and 6th August, 2017. The online answer keys were published on 07.08.2017. However, it appears that thereafter some dispute arose with regard to 23 candidates, which was the subject matter of challenge before this Court and ultimately, the result was corrected.

4. It is the case of the petitioner that the respondent-Corporation was required to pay the amount as per the terms of the payment of the Purchase Order by 60% of payment, after conducting the examination and the remaining outstanding 40% of the amount, after successful completion of the examination and relevant data submitted to the respondent-GSRTC.

5. Learned advocate Mr.Bhatt appearing for the petitioner, has submitted that 60% of the amount was required to be paid on 07.08.2017 or soon thereafter and 40% outstanding amount was required to be paid on 18.08.2017, however, since the same was not paid, the petitioner was constrained to file the present writ petition, after making representation and issuance of a legal notice on 16.04.2018. It is submitted that pursuant to the interim order, 60% of the amount was paid on 05.09.2019. Learned advocate Mr.Bhatt has submitted that the aforesaid interim order was challenged before the Division Bench of this Court by filing Letters Patent Appeal No.939 of 2019, wherein the Division Bench, after hearing the learned advocates for the respective parties, rejected the Letters Patent Appeal filed by the respondent-Corporation vide order dated 22.04.2019. The Division Bench of this Court has observed thus :-

"While admitting the petition, learned single Judge has granted limited relief and has fixed the matter on 25th April, 2019 for hearing.

Hence, we are not inclined to interfere with the order passed by learned single. The appeal is therefore, dismissed. Consequently, connected civil application is disposed of.

It will be open for the parties to raise all contentions that may be available to them before the learned single Judge."

6. Being aggrieved by the order of the Division Bench, the respondent-Corporation approached the Apex Court challenging the order dated 22.04.2019 passed in Letters Patent Appeal No.939 of 2019. It is submitted that the Apex Court vide order dated 03.07.2019 passed in SLP (C) No.13248 of 2019, has expressed that this Court will endeavor to dispose of this writ petition as expeditiously as possible on the same day i.e. 25.07.2019 and with this direction, the Apex Court has disposed of the said SLP. Learned advocate Mr.Bhatt has further submitted that, for the first time in the affidavit-in-reply filed before this Court, it is contended by the respondent- Corporation that due to irregularities and illegalities committed by the petitioner in the recruitment process, the image and reputation of the respondent-GSR