JUDGMENT :

MURALEE KRISHNA, J.

1. This is an appeal filed under Section 5(i) of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958, by respondents 1 and 2 in W.P. (C) No. 30648 of 2012 against the judgment of the learned Single Judge dated 29.02.2024 in the writ petition.

2. The 1^st respondent herein is a PWD contractor, who successfully secured the construction work of the first Phase of ‘Kothamangalam Municipal Bus Stand’ from the 1^st appellant Municipality, by quoting the lowest rate and subsequently by reducing it on negotiation. Accordingly, Ext.P1 agreement dated 09.03.2009 was entered into between the 1^st respondent and the Municipality. According to the 1^st respondent, the work could not be commenced immediately after the execution of Ext.P1 agreement due to reasons beyond his control. The initial work, such as the excavation of soil, was done under the supervision of the Assistant Engineer of the 1^st appellant. At that time, it was found that against the total quantity of 660 M³ earth work excavation specified in the schedule to the agreement, around 13000 M of earth work excavation had to be done. Similarly, it was found that since hard rock was noticed beneath the soil, around 5000 M³ of rock