HC imposes Rs 1 lakh cost on Housing Board for unfair conduct

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has criticised the state of Haryana and its functionaries for their "adamancy and unfair conduct," which led to unnecessary litigation. As a result, the court imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the Housing Board.

Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj, in his judgment, ordered the release of Rs 3.5 lakh along with interest to a contractor, stating that the withholding of dues amounted to "oppression and undue harassment."

The petitioner, an ‘AA-class’ government contractor, was allotted construction work in Gurugram. Despite repeated directives from officers to release the payment, the amount remained withheld. The court found this conduct unjustifiable and criticised the Housing Board's executive engineer, who had no authority to withhold the dues.

Justice Bhardwaj noted that a contradictory affidavit was filed by the Principal Secretary of the Department of Housing, attempting to reopen an issue that had already been resolved by the department. He stated: “The respondents... have still compelled the petitioner to approach the court again and again for enforcing his rights, unnecessarily burdening the dockets of this court. It is a clear case of administrative inaction which has led to oppression and undue harassment.”

The court directed the payment of Rs 3.5 lakh with six per cent interest per annum from July 22, 2015. If the payment is not made within three months, an additional nine per cent interest will be imposed.