Order on Board

Per Ramesh Sinha, C.J.

1. The petitioner has filed the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India calling in question the legality and validity of the order dated 29.01.2026 passed by respondent No.3 whereby the tender awarded in favour of the petitioner for construction of District Family Court Building at Bemetara has been terminated, as well as the consequential recovery order dated 02.02.2026 directing forfeiture of the earnest money/security deposit and initiating recovery proceedings against the petitioner.

2. The petitioner has filed the present writ petiton eeking for the following reliefs:-

“The petitioner craves the indulgence of the Hon'ble Court;

i. To issue writ and/or an order of appropriate nature commanding respondent no.3 to submit all the relevant records pertaining to the subject tender process.

ii. To issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, preferably in the nature of certiorari, quashing and setting aside the impugned termination order dated 29.01.2026 passed by the respondent no.3;

iii. To issue an appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the consequential recovery order dated 02.02.2026, including the forfeiture of the earnest money/security deposit deposited by the petitioner;

iv. Direct the respondents to release the legitimate pending dues/bills of the petitioner in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract;

v. Restrain the respondents from taking any coercive steps pursuant to the impugned recovery order;

vi. Direct the respondents to allow the petitioner to continue the work with a condition to pay monthly bill as per terms and condition of the agreement.

vii. Any other relief that may be deemed fit and just in the facts & circumstance of case. An affidavit in support of this writ.”

3. The facts of the case as emerges from the pleadings of the petition are that, the petitioner is a sole proprietorship firm engaged in civil construction works and had participated in the tender floated by the Public Works Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, for construction of the District Family Court Building at Bemetara, including allied works such as water supply, sanitary fittings, rain water harvesting and electrification. Upon evaluation of bids, the petitioner was declared the successful bidder and the tender was awarded in his favour vide allotment letter dated 30.09.2024. Pursuant thereto, the petitioner deposited the Performance Guarantee/Additional Deposit (ADR) amounting to ₹28,37,274/- on 09.10.2024 and thereafter the respondent No.3 issued the formal work order dated 14.10.2024 authorising the petitioner to commence the work. As per the communication dated 13.12.2024, the period stipulated for completion of the work was 15 months i.e., up to 13.01.2026 with an additional one month preparation period up to 13.02.2026.

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After commencement of the work, the petitioner executed the construction in accordance with the approved plan and periodically submitted running bills corresponding to the work completed. It is the case of the petitioner that though four running bills had been submitted up to December 2025, only three bills were cleared by the department and that too after considerable delay of about 300 days, contrary to the contractual stipulation requiring monthly payments. According to the petitioner, due to such inordinate delay in release of payments, he faced severe financial constraints affecting procurement of materials, payment of labour and other expenses necessary for continuation of the project. The petitioner addressed several communications and representations to respondent No.3 highlighting the delay in payments and the resultant difficulties in execution of the work.

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Despite the aforesaid representations, the respondents allegedly failed to release the outstanding dues and instead issued communications directing the petitioner to expedite the work. Thereafter, a