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22. The petitioner has also contended that no wood could have been procured unless the sample flat was ready in terms of clause 5.3.1 at page 77 of the contract and the sample flat was completed in all respect only in the first week of December, 1996 and the payment of the same was made on 7th January, 1997. However, since the approval was made much later, and unless and until it was approved by respondent No.1, the petitioner could not have procured the wood and, therefore, the delay could not be attributed to the petitioner.

"The Respondents have not been able to establish/substantiate that they took timely action to procure champ wood and construct a sample house as per provision/requirements in the contract agreement or even as per the bar chart submitted by them to the claimants after the agreement was signed. It is only after the Hon‟ble Supreme Court of India issued a judgment regarding bean on felling of champ wood in Assam that they raised the issue of shortage/non-availability of champ wood in the market. I agree with the views of the claimants in this regard. The plea of the Respondents, to my mind, that they could not procure the champ wood much in advance of making the sample flat and the approval thereof by the Claimants Society and Architect, is not tenable. It indicates their reluctance to procure champ wood. They did not even respond positively when the Claimants Society organized a meeting with a supplier of champ wood. They only pointed out that substitute Ghana teak wood or other steel/Aluminum be used in frames. This naturally had extra cost implication which the Claimants Society had to examine. The respondents there raised the delay in the completion of the project due to delay/late decision of wood substitute. The total delay in the project cannot be justified on account of this reason. Even if a more liberal view is taken of the initial delay caused by the Respondents of 12 months as stated by the Architect, a delay of about four months could be accepted in the completion of the project beyond the date of completion i.e 2.4.1998, due to delay in decision of substituting champ wood by Ghana teak wood after the Hon‟ble Supreme Court banned felling of champ wood in Assam.