The division judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court held that even an order passed by the administrative authority that follows serious civil consequences should be in conformity with the requirements of natural justice. The court set aside the order of blacklisting as the show cause notice doesn’t disclose the proposed action against it.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the agreement was executed for the construction of the cannel and Silphore Distributory. The Petitioner/company asserted that 98% of the work has been completed, however, 2% of the work could not be completed as the respondent didn’t acquire the land. The grievance was raised by the Petitioner that an inquiry was conducted behind its back and a decision was taken to proceed against it in terms of Jharkhand Water Resources Contractor Registration Rules, 2018. Thereafter, when the order of blacklisting was filed then, the appeal was filed before the secretary, Water Resources Department. However, because of an inordinate delay on the part of the appellate authority, the Petitioner was compelled to approach the court by way of filing a writ petitioner. The court affirmed the order of blacklisting due to which, the petitioner has approached this court.
Contentions of the Petitioner
The Petitioner contended that no opportunity for a hearing was ever given to the Petitioner before passing the order. It was furthermore contended that the order of blacklisting suffers from the vice of arbitrariness and was passed in breach of natural justice.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that the natural justice prerequisites should be met even by an administrative authority order that has major civil repercussions. In the instant case, the authority should give proper notice of the proposed punishment to the contractor.
It was furthermore observed that the authority must keep in mind the nature of the lapse committed by the contractor and impose punishment proportionate to the gravity of irregularity
The court noted that the show cause notice issued to the Petitioner didn’t disclose the proposed action against it.
The court relied upon the judgment titled UMC Technologies Private Limited v. Food Corporation of India and Another.
Based on these considerations, the court set aside the order of blacklisting.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court allowed the Writ Petition.
Case Title: M/s Triveni Engicons Pvt. Ltd. V. The State of Jharkhand
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Navneet Kumar
Case No.: W.P. (C) No. 3088 of 2024
Advocates for the Petitioner: Mr. Indrajit Sinha, Advocate Mr. Ankit Vishal, Advocate Mrs. Aditee Dongrawat, Advocate Ms. Puja Agarwal, Advocate
Advocates for the state: Mr. Manoj Kumar Dubey, A.C. to A.G.
Read Judgment @Latestlaws.com
Picture Source : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jharkhand_High_Court.jpg
