The Kerala High Court on Monday upheld the decision of Inkel Ltd. to terminate the contract given to P and C Projects Pvt. Ltd., Erode, for the construction of the Cochin Cancer Research Centre, Ernakulam.
Justice N. Nagaresh passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by the company against the contract termination.
The company contended in its petition that the prescribed period for completion of the project as per the agreement was 730 days from the date of handing over of the project site. The construction commenced on July 25, 2018, and was expected to be completed by July 23, 2020. However, several unexpected incidents, including floods and COVID-19 outbreak, led to delay in completing the project within the time period.
Moreover, the failure of Inkel, a special purpose vehicle for the project funded by the Kerala State Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), clearing pending bills and resolving labour issues led to further delay, the company said.
Inkel refuted the allegations and contended that the petitioner had been delaying the work from the beginning and had completed only 35% of their work. The progress of the work was and its quality were found wanting. Therefore the contract was terminated.
Dismissing the the petition, the court observed that the writ petition lacked in merits.
