JAGATSINGHPUR: A contractor on Saturday removed movable assets, including chairs, computers, inverters, air conditioners, printers and other equipment, from the office of the superintending engineer (SE) of the Rural Development (RD) department here, claiming he was acting under a court order over non-payment of his dues for nearly 28 years.
According to sources, contractor Antrayami Lenka of Rajabagicha in Cuttack had been awarded a construction work by the RD Department during 1997-98. After completing the work, Lenka allegedly did not receive his payment despite repeated reminders to the department. The outstanding amount, including interest, is now stated to be around Rs 11 lakh.
After his repeated representations allegedly failed to yield any result, Lenka approached the local court and subsequently the Orissa High Court seeking recovery of his payment. The courts passed orders relating to payment and recovery of the amount, sources said.
However, Lenka alleged that despite submitting copies of the court orders to the authorities concerned, the outstanding amount was not released. Claiming he had exhausted all other avenues for recovery, Lenka arrived at the SE’s office in Jagatsinghpur and removed office assets in two trucks in the absence of the engineer and in the presence of court staff.
Lenka’s son Ashok Lenka said, “We approached the department several times and submitted the court order seeking release of the pending dues. But there was no response. As the SE was not present in the office today, we removed the assets towards recovery of the unpaid dues.”
Counsel for the contractor said the assets removed included 18 executive tables, 15 wooden tables, 23 air conditioners, 25 ceiling fans, 75 movable chairs, a four-wheeler, and other items, with the total value stated to be around Rs 10.63 lakh. Superintending engineer of the RD department, Satyajit Dalai, did not respond to calls for comment.