Dimapur, March 13: A tough-talking Kohima Bench of Gauhati High Court on Monday ordered Fortune Groups-the firm constructing the 2-lane NH 2 from Kohima to Mao-to complete the ongoing works “on the existing road” before May 30, 2023 without compromising the quality of work, or face penalties including the potential to be blacklisted.
“Failure on the part of the Contractor to complete the work as directed herein above, costs shall be imposed upon the respondent No. 9 (Contractor) and the NHIDCL shall be directed to issue show cause notice to the respondent No. 9/Contractor for blacklisting”, stated an order issued by a Bench comprising Justices LS Jamir and Kakheto Sema.
It also directed the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) not to deduct 25% from the bill submitted by the Contractor for non-achievement of width as per the Typical Cross-section (TCS).
“No demand for TCS will be made by the NHIDCL to the Contractor and the work will be executed on the existing road/ROW. Any bill submitted by the Contractor shall be paid as expeditiously as possible after joint verification by both parties.
“We also direct the NHIDCL as well as the Contractor concerned to file their respective affidavits on the progress of the work before April 12, 2023. We also request the learned Amicus Curiae to have an inspection of the work before the next returnable date and file an affidavit before April 12, 2023”, the order stated.
Accordingly, the next hearing has been fixed on April 12.
“The work order for construction of 2-lane road from Kohima to Mao was issued on October 7, 2022 with a deadline to complete the work on or before April 22, 2022. As there was no progress, this Court took up this PIL suo moto in public interest.
“During the course of proceedings of this PIL, the respondent No. 9/Contractor had filed several affidavits, particularly stating that the work would be completed by March 31, 2023. Despite the passage of time, we see that there is still no progress in the work, except for about 5 km of black topping in the existing road”, the Bench noted on Monday.
(Page News Service)
