PATNA, India, Sept. 22 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on Aug. 22:

The present petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in which the petitioner has prayed that the order dated 18.12.2024, passed by the Additional Chief Executive Officer-cum-Secretary (Respondent No.2) be quashed and the respondents be restrained from giving effect to the said order during pendency of the present petition.

2. The facts of the present case in nutshell are as under:-

2.1. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner company engaged in providing consultancy services for various construction work. It is stated that agreement dated 27.12.2021 was executed between the petitioner and Respondent No.2 for providing consultancy services for project management and construction supervision of bridges on rural road in the State of Bihar at a financial rate of Rs.8,16,00,000.00 excluding GST. It is stated that the schedule for completion of the task under the agreement was two years with the possibility of extension based on the project requirement and satisfactory performance.

2.2. The petitioner has averred that the agreement was never extended and, as such, in terms of Clause 9 of the agreement, the said agreement expired on 27.12.2023 without any adverse report or complaint against the petitioner. It is stated that after the expiry of the agreement and after the petitioner ceased to have supervisory control over the construction works, the Engineer-in-Chief, vide his letter dated 18.07.2024 issued show-cause notice to the petitioner seeking clarification as to why the services being provided by the petitioner firm be not treated as unsatisfactory. The reasons stated in the said showcause is that there was damage to an under construction bridge under Package No. BR01P2R -49 (T05 - Nepal Border Jhala Chowky Jakirparast, Last Border) (Construction of HL Bridge at CH - 33.20 K.M. over River alignment, Length of Bridge 182.65 Meter) which got damaged on 18.06.2024.

The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTUjOTI3IzIwMjUjMSNO-qwIDSezFf9E=

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