2014 (5) TMI 1163

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..... Associate Vs. State of U.P. Ors. (Writ-C No.11544 of 2014, decided on 24 February 2014) declined to entertain a petition which had been filed for making payment of bills under a contract - petition dismissed.
Dr. Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud And Dilip Gupta, JJ. Counsel for Petitioner :- R.P.Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C. JUDGMENT: The petitioner seeks in these proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution a money decree for the payment of an amount of Rs..3,50,000/- with interest at 18 % per annum for the work performed under a contract of the year 2000-01. This is a purely contractual matter and we are not inclined to entertain a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution in this regard. Whether the work .....

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..... ntract envisages actual payment or not is a question of construction of contract. If a term of contract is violated, ordinarily the remedy is not the writ petition under Article 226. We are also unable to agree with the observations of the High Court that the contractor was seeking enforcement of a statutory contract. A contract would not become statutory simply because it is for construction of a public utility and it has been awarded by a statutory body. We are also unable to agree with the observation of the High Court that since the obligations imposed by the contract on the contracting parties come within the purview of the Contract Act, that would not make the contract statutory. Clearly, the High Court fell into an error in coming to .....

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..... ed in a writ petition." In Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited & Anr. Vs. Dolly Das (1994) 4 SCC 450) , the Supreme Court also observed :- "In the absence of constitutional or statutory rights being involved a writ proceeding would not lie to enforce contractual obligations even if it is sought to be enforced against the State or to avoid contractual liability arising thereto. In the absence of any statutory right, Article 226 cannot be availed to claim any money in respect of breach of contract or tort or otherwise. ………." In the present case, there is nothing on the record which may persuade us to hold that the contract is a statutory contract. The remedy of the contractor, if he is aggrieved by non-payment, wou .....

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