Delhi High Court - Orders
Hayagrev Civil Engineering Private ... vs Nbcc India Limited on 26 November, 2025
Author: Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav
Bench: Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav
~O-4
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 331/2024
HAYAGREV CIVIL ENGINEERING PRIVATE LIMITED
.....Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Anirudh Wadhwa, Mr. Raghav
Wadhwa, Mr. Sarthak Jain, Mr.
Siddharth Jain and Ms. Anjali Jain,
Advs.
versus
NBCC INDIA LIMITED
.....Defendant
Through: Mr. Gudipati Gayatri Kashyap and
Ms. Soumya Singh, Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV
ORDER
% 26.11.2025 I.A. 28970/2025 (BY PLAINTIFF- U/O 39 RULE 10 CPC)
1. The plaintiff has filed the instant application seeking directions to the defendant to deposit Rs. 4,00,17,407/- before this Court.
2. In paragraph no. 12 of the written statement, following position has been taken by the defendant.
"12. Thus, the balance payable amount of Rs.4,00,17,407/- to the plaintiff with respect to project "Construction of Cooling Tower (NDCT) including Raft Foundation, Basin, Columns & Shell etc. all complete Civil Site Works for BHEL/GSECL at 1x800 MW Wanakbori Super Critical TPP Unit-8, District-Kheda (Gujarat)", was transferred from NDCT works, Wanakbori to NDCT works, Yadadri under Clause 26 of the contract entered into between the plaintiff and the defendant. That Clause 26 of the This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/12/2025 at 20:48:45 contract states thus:
"26.0 WITHHOLDING AND LIEN IN RESPECT OF SUMS DUE FROM CONTRACTOR 26.1 Whenever any claim or claims for payment of a sum of money arises out of or under the contract or against the contractor, NBCC shall be entitled to withhold and also have a lien to retain such sum or sums in whole or in part from the security, if any, deposited by the contractor and for the purpose aforesaid, NBCC shall be entitled to withhold the security deposit, if any, furnished as the case may be and also have a lien over the same pending finalization or adjudication of any such claim. In the event of the security being insufficient to cover the claimed amount or amounts or if no security has been taken from the contractor, NBCC shall be entitled to withhold and have a lien to retain to the extent of such claimed amount or amounts referred to above from any sum or sums found payable or which may at any time there after become payable to the contractor under the same contract or any other contract pending finalization of adjudication of any such claim.
26.2 It is an agreed term of the contract that the sum of money or moneys so Withheld or retained under the lien referred to above by the Engineer- in-Charge or NBCC will be kept withheld or retained as such by the Engineer in-Charge or NBCC till the claim arising out of or under the contract is determined by the competent court and that the contractor will have no claim for interest or damages whatsoever on any account in respect of such withholding or retention under the lien referred to above and duly notified as such to the contractor. For the purpose of this clause, where the contractor is a partnership firm or a limited company, the Engineer-in-Charge or the NBCC shall be entitled to withhold and also have a lien to retain towards such claimed amount or amounts in whole or in part from any sum found payable to any partner/limited company, as the case may be in his individual capacity or otherwise. NBCC shall have the right to cause an audit and technical examination of the works and the final bills of the contractor including all supporting vouchers, abstract, etc, to be made after payment of the final bill and if as a result of such audit and technical examination any sum is found to have been overpaid in respect of any work done by the contractor under the contract or any work claimed to have been done by him under the contract and found not to have been executed, the contractor shall be liable to refund the amount of over-payment and it shall be lawful for NBCC to recover the same from him in the manner prescribed in sub-clause 26.1 of this clause or in any other manner legally permissible; and if it is found that the contractor was paid less than what was due to him under the contract in respect of any work executed by him under it, the amount of such under payment shall be This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/12/2025 at 20:48:45 duly paid by NBCC to the contractor, without any interest thereon whatsoever.
26.3 LIEN IN RESPECT OF CLAIMS IN OTHER CONTRACTS Any sum of money due and payable to the contractor (including the security deposit returnable to him) under the contract may be withheld or retained by way of lien by the Engineer-in-Charge or by NBCC against any claim of the Engineer-in-Charge or NBCC in respect of payment of a sum of money arising out of or under any other contract made by the contractor with the Engineer-in-Charge or the NBCC. It is an agreed term of the contract that the sum of money so withheld or retained under this clause by the Engineer-in-Charge or the NBCC will be kept withheld or retained as such by the Engineer-in-Charge or the NBCC or till his claim arising out of the same contract is or any other contract is either mutually settled or determined by the competent court, as the case may be, and that the contractor shall have no claim for interest or damages whatsoever on this account or on any other ground in respect of any sum of money withheld or retained under this clause and duly notified as such to the contractor."
Further, because of slow progress of work by plaintiff, since client (BHEL) has withdrawn the project "Construction of NDCT" to plaintiff at Yadadri, Telangana vide LOA No - NBCC/ED(CPG)/2021/726 dated 05.03.2021 for an amount of Rs.98.75 Crores" from the defendant and since the entire work of CT#1,3 & 5 is being executed through other agency at the risk & cost of Defendant (NBCC), the plaintiff is liable to compensate the defendant for the said actual loss, which can be calculated only after completion of the said works. However, it is pertinent to mention that the defendant has also challenged the termination by BHEL before the Administrative Mechanism for Resolution of CPSEs Disputes (AMRCD), a forum established to resolve the disputes between two Government entities. It is clarified that the dispute before AMRCD is pending and has not been finalized yet. The defendant company reserves its right to quantify the said and claim the same from the plaintiff, which the defendant is liable to be compensated, as per relevant Contractual clause agreed between the parties. It is clarified that a clear picture with regard to the dues recoverable from the plaintiff would be possible once the pending dispute between Defendant and BHEL before AMRCD is finalized.
Hence, as per the relevant contractual clauses the amount of plaintiff is rightly withheld by the defendant and the instant suit filed by the plaintiff is premature."
3. Under these circumstances, it is directed that without prejudice to the This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/12/2025 at 20:48:45 rights and contentions, the aforesaid amount be deposited before the Registrar General of this Court within a period of six months from today, who shall keep the same in an interest bearing FDR.
4. The application stands disposed of.
CS(COMM) 331/2024 and I.A. 46309/2024, I.A. 7735/2025, I.A. 7738/2025
5. List on 11.03.2026.
PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J NOVEMBER 26, 2025 aks/mj This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/12/2025 at 20:48:45