The Superintending Engineer vs East Coast Constructions & Industries ...
In the case of B.B.M. Enterprises vs National
Highways Authority of India the Arbiral Tribunal had held that accepting
the Final Bill in which it has been recorded that the "payment has been
made in full and final settlement (excl S/D) of the Final Bill raised against
Contract No.021/NH-6/PR works/GM/(E)/2000 dated 25th July 2000vide
Ch.No.881916 dated 5th December" will not preclude B.B.M. Enterprises
from raising a dispute regarding their entitlement to further amounts. This
order became the subject matter of challenge and ultimately the Hon'ble
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http://www.judis.nic.in
O.P.No.739 of 2011
Supreme Court upheld the order of the Tribunal stating that there was no
patent illegality nor was the Award opposed to the public policy of India.
Therefore the Hon'ble Supreme Court had rejected the preliminary objection
raised by the NHAI that once B.B.M. Enterprises has accepted the Final
Bill towards full and final settlement they could not raise a fresh claim. In
the case of P.K.Ramaiah and Co., the claimant/appellant had
acknowledged in writing not only accepting the correctness of the
measurements but also the final settlement by making an endorsement
"Final measurement and payment accepted in full and final settlement of
the contract" In the instant case such is not the situation. The claimant had
raised invoice for the additional works as soon as the work had been
completed in March 2020. The claimant had received the amounts and
simultaneously referred the matter to the Adjudicator. Therefore the facts
of the instant case is totally at variance to the facts of the case in
P.K.Ramaiah and Co., where the claimant had acknowledged full and final
settlement of their dues.