Facts of the Case

P.N. Shanavas, proprietor of M/s Deens Group, filed a writ petition before the Kerala High Court seeking payment for road and drainage development work executed at the Industrial Development Area, Edayar, under a contract with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and allied respondents, based on bills (Exts. P9 and P10). The additional 7th respondent (Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion, KBIP) filed a counter affidavit admitting the total value of work done, GST payable on it, and the deductions made (income tax, TDS-CGST, TDS-SGST, welfare fund) leading to net amounts released in two tranches — Rs. 1,14,42,767 in June 2022 and Rs. 91,24,868 in January 2023 — while conceding a balance of Rs. 57,81,345 remained payable, pending receipt of the next tranche of funds from the Ministry of MSME.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the petitioner was entitled to a time-bound direction for payment of the admitted balance amount due for completed work.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The petitioner had raised bills (Exts. P9 and P10) for completed work and was entitled to payment within a reasonable time.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The 7th respondent's counter affidavit admitted the amount due, including a detailed breakup of GST and statutory deductions applied to the contract value, and stated that the balance would be released once the next tranche of Ministry of MSME funds was received.

Court Order / Findings

  • The Court noted that the amount due to the petitioner was admitted by the respondent and that the petitioner need not wait indefinitely for payment.
  • It directed the 7th respondent to take necessary steps to disburse the balance amount of Rs. 57,81,345 within three months from receipt of a copy of the judgment.
  • The petitioner was directed to produce a certified copy of the judgment along with the writ petition for compliance.

Important Clarification

GST appears in this order only as one component of the running account between the contractor and KBIP/KSEB — the case is fundamentally about enforcing payment of an admitted, undisputed contractual dues balance, not about any GST liability, rate, or credit dispute. There is no GST law question decided here.

Sections Involved

  • Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (GST component of contract billing, referenced only as an accounting line item)

Decision – In Favour of

Decided in favour of the Petitioner — a time-bound direction (three months) was issued for payment of the admitted balance dues.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam
  • Case No.: WP(C) NO. 7992 OF 2023
  • Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan
  • Date of Order: 14.08.2023

Link to Download the Order

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