The High Court of Karnataka has imposed a cost of ₹2 lakh on the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) for ‘ill-treating’ a contractor by raising a ‘make believe dispute’ to delay the payment of amount due to him a year after it was certified that a building was satisfactorily renovated as per terms of the contract.
The court also directed that the KSTDC has to pay ₹34.85 lakh due to him along with 12% interest per annum. If the amount along with the interest is not paid within six weeks, then he is eligible for an additional 1% interest per month, the court said while leaving it open to the authorities to recover the cost from the erring officials, including the Managing Director of KSTDC.
Justice Krishna S. Dixit passed the order while allowing a petition filed by M. Chiranjeevi, a Class I Contractor from Bengaluru.
