JUDGMENT

1. The instant writ petition has been filed with the following prayers:

a. Issue a Writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ that this Hon’ble Court may deem proper, directing the Respondents to:

i. Pay a sum of Rs.1,33,95,393/- towards the balance value under the bill RAB 24th and Price Escalation RAB 4th & Final;

ii. Pay the balance value of Rs.16,14,436/- (inclusive of CGST of Rs.2,46,270/-) towards the

18th RA Bill dated 25.03.2020;

iii. Release and return the Original Fixed Deposit Receipts to the tune of Rs.14,60,000/- submitted towards Performance Bank Guarantee;

iv. Refund the Security Deposit to the tune of Rs.2,51,66,588/- lying with Respondent No. 1;

b. Issue a Writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ that this Hon’ble Court may deem proper, declaring the action of the Respondents in not releasing the outstanding payments of Rs.4,16,36,417/- (Rupees Four Crore Sixteen Lakhs Thirty Six Thousand Four Hundred and Seventeen Only) for the work executed by the Petitioner, as illegal, arbitrary, malafide, unjust, oppressive, contrary to the principles of natural justice and to strike off the wordings of Clause 37 of the Contract which are arbitrary and violative inter alia of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and further direct the Respondents to pay interest at the rate of 24% per annum on the above said sums from the due date till the date of payment in full;

c. Direct the Respondents to deposit the said amount or part thereof Rs.4,16,36,417/- (Rupees Four Crore Sixteen Lakhs Thirty Six Thousand Four Hundred and Seventeen Only) in court during the pendency of this Petition;

d. Grant compensation to the Petitioner for the loss caused by the Respondents by illegally withholding the payments since 03.04.2021;

e. Pass any other or further orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case."

2. The facts, in brief, leading to the filing of the instant writ petition are that the Respondent No.1/National Projects Construction Corporation Limited invited a Pre-Qualification bid on 03.07.2017 for Construction of various building and external development works at Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development at Sriperumbudur Post, Tamil Nadu/Respondent No.2 herein. The Petitioner participated in the bidding process and submitted its bid. The bid of the Petitioner was accepted by Respondent No.1 on 31.10.2017 and a Letter of Intent was issued to the Petitioner. Pursuant to that the performance guarantee for a sum of Rs.2,24,70,088/- and the Bank Guarantee for a sum of Rs.26,96,500/- were given by the Petitioner. On 24.11.2017, a contract agreement was signed between the Petitioner and the Respondent No.1 for the contract price of Rs.50,33,29,956.89/-. According to the Petitioner, the entire work has been completed to the satisfaction of Respondent Nos.1 and 2 and the final RA bills have been raised by the Petitioner on 03.04.2021. The defect liability period was expired on 05.09.2022. Discussion regarding the payment of amount took place between the Petitioner and the Respondent No.1 on 15.11.2022. It is stated that the IIT Madras being the expert body and whose report was sought for quality control has given its report stating that the quality of construction is satisfactory and the same is as per applicable laws and safety standards.

3. At this juncture, it is pertinent to mention the Clause 37 of the contract entered into between the parties which deals with as to how the payments are to be made. Clause 37 of the contract reads as under:

"37 PAYMENTS

37.1 The bill shall be submitted by contractor each month on or before the date fixed by the Engineer-in- charge for all works executed in previous months. The contractor shall prepare computerized bills using the program as approved by Engineer-in-charge as per prescribed format/pro-forma. The contractor shall submit five numbers of hard copies and one soft copy of floppy/CD for all bills s