Civil contractor not paid Rs 1.2cr, PWD assets seized in Karnataka

YADGIR: Furniture, computers and UPS were seized from the public works (PWD) office here following a Yadgir court order after PWD failed to pay Rs 1.2 crore to a civil contractor for a road built in 2017.
After constructing a road from Ambedkar Circle to Hattikuni cross in Yadgir in 2017, contractor SS Police Patil waited in vain for two years for Rs 27.5 lakh payment before approaching the Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka high court in 2019.
The contractor accused the PWD of harassing him and holding up the funds.
Abhimanyu KS, executive engineer, PWD, Yadgir division, said the work belonged to the directorate of municipal administration (DMA) under the district urban development cell. "As they did not release funds, we were made a party in the suit. It was not part of our budget. We have reported the court action to the DMA and the govt and are waiting for their response," he stated.
Police Patil told TOI that he suffered huge losses as his construction machinery worth Rs 40 lakh became idle in that period. Under Indian Contract Act of 1872, if the department fails to pay the pending bills within 60 days, then it has to make the payment along with interest as decided by court. "When we moved HC, we had sought appointment of a sole arbitrator. The court studied documents and put the dues at Rs 1.05 crore. This order was passed in 2021, and the PWD had been given 120 days of time to file an appeal," he said.
With no appeal from PWD, the contractor filed an execution petition at the Yadgir district court in Nov 2023. In June this year, the court ordered PWD to pay Rs 1.2 crore with a 12% interest by Sept 27, 2024. Since PWD officials allegedly did not take up the execution of the order, the court decided to seize assets from its district office, the contractor said.
Courts estimated the loss of machinery at nearly Rs 1 crore, legal fees of Rs 5 lakh and court fees of Rs 1.3 lakh before arriving at Rs 1 crore as total dues owed to the contractor.