JUDGMENT

Dated this the 23 ^rd day of October, 2025 The writ petition is preferred by an ‘A’ class Government Contractor, who entered into an agreement with the 1^st respondent for conducting the work, namely, “Jalanidhi II – LWSS/bulk water supply scheme to Chokkad Grama Panchayat”. During the work, the petitioner has submitted 1^st part, 2^nd, 4^th and 5^th part bills, which were settled by the respondents. The total amount payable to the petitioner comes to Rs. 1,00,82,574/-.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that, despite the 3^rd respondent having declared the project successfully completed by Ext.P5 order, the Panchayat has not released the funds that were handed over to it by the 3^rd respondent. This is the circumstance in which this writ petition has been filed.

3. The petitioner has also filed another writ petition - WP(C) No.30441 of 2019 challenging the second resolution passed by the Panchayat on 29.08.2019. In that resolution, the Panchayat decided not to recommend payment to the contractor on the ground that the work had not been satisfactorily completed.

4. The primary objection raised by the learned counsel for the 2^nd respondent Panchayat is that Ext.P5 completion certifica