Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 14: High Court today directed the Government to release the pending payments to the contractors who have executed the works and ensure that the issues are settled outside the court.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar disposed of the petition of contractors who were allotted different works by the departments of R&B and Public Health Engineering (PHE) as also by the Rural Development Department in Block Teetwal Karnah through the Executive Engineer Special SubDivision Tangdhar and after executing these allotted works they claim that their due payments are not being paid by the Government towards them.
Justice Kumar while disposing of the petition directed the Chief Secretary of the Union Territory to examine the issue after getting inputs from all the departments and the agencies of the Government which get their works executed through contractors and deny them their due payments citing paucity of funds as impediment.
Chief Secretary has further been directed to ensure that these matters are settled by the Government at its own level without constraining the aggrieved contractors to approach the court.
Court said this exercise would avoid unnecessary litigation and piling up of cases in the court. “That the Chief Secretary is well advised to constitute a high empowered committee consisting of Administrative Secretary of the concerned department, Secretary Finance and a senior Chief Accounts Officer, to examine these claims of the contractors and wherever claims are found genuine”, reads the judgment.
The concerned department, court directed will make the payments without any further wastage of time, based on the recommendations of the aforesaid Committee.
Court said if there be any delay in the settlement of admitted claims of the contractors, the amount shall be paid along with the interest at the lending rate of interest of the bank, so that the contractors are not made to face starvation and financial crisis.
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