TMI Blog2017 (12) TMI 1856X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thin the scheduled period, the breaches of the Respondent has caused the delay. The dispute in question had resulted in a reasoned award. It is not as if the arbitrator has not appreciated the evidence. The arbitrator has taken a plausible view that the very nature of job to be performed would imply that there has to be an area for unloading and that too in the vicinity of 5 kilometres as that is all that the Appellant was to be paid for. The route was also determined. In such a situation to say that the Respondent owed no obligation to make available the site cannot be accepted by any stretch of imagination. The unpreparedness of the Respondent is also apparent from the fact that even post termination it took couple of years for the wor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ikita Choukse, Chandra Prakash and U.T. Chandra Prakash, Advs. JUDGMENT Sanjay Kishan Kaul, J. Leave granted. 1. The Appellant was awarded a contract by the Respondent of earth excavation work and loading into trucks and unloading for purposes of widening of the approach road Sukhna Choe on Chandigarh Kalka Road, Chandigarh vide memo No. 201 dated 5.1.1996. The earth was required to be lifted from the first source near the regulator and carried through trucks from Golf side initially. There was a second source of lifting the earth as per permission of the Superintendent Engineer but it is not necessary to go into the details of the contract for the present purposes. Suffice to say that the Respondent alleges that the Appe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No.1 and Amount deposited by way of earnest 1,20,299 32,000 2. Payment due on account of transportation or earth not measured by department 1,11,231 Claim No.3 65,076 3. Payment due on account of less lead paid 95,400 Claim No.4 7,74,375 4. Idle hour charges of heavy earth moving machinery and labour deployed on the machinery 31,22,280 Claim No.6 45,435 5. Payment due on account of earth eroded by heavy rains due to non-compaction of ear ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aid appeal succeeded whereby the Award was set aside opining that the contract was rightly terminated and the Department rightly imposed the penalty. 5. We have heard learned Counsel for the parties and have perused the record. The Award is a reasoned one. The arbitrator has taken note of the peculiar features of the contract inter se the parties that while the work of excavation of the earth, its loading into the trucks, unloading and transportation to site of the work was awarded to the Appellant as contractor, the spreading of the earth brought to the site of the work by the contractor and its compaction was to be done by the Respondent Department itself. It is, thus, that the Appellant claimed that even though they had taken up the w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... findings of the arbitrator were based on appraisal of evidence and it was certainly not the function of the Court to re-appreciate the evidence so long as it is not a case of completely devoid of evidence. Since the spreading of the earth and its compaction was required to be done by the Respondent, the non-carrying out of that activity would naturally impede the performance of the obligations by the Appellant. Accessibility to the site was obviously an important part of the execution of the contractual obligations. In fact, the contract was carried over a period of four and a half years against the original time period of 45 days, which would show the unpreparedness of the Respondent. 9. The learned single Judge of the High Court, howe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Respondent is also apparent from the fact that even post termination it took couple of years for the work to be carried out, which was meant to be completed within 45 days. The ability of the Appellant to comply with its obligations were inter dependent on the Respondent meeting its obligations in time to facilitate appropriate areas for unloading of the earth and for its compacting. At least it is certainly a plausible view. 11. It has been opined by this Court that when it comes to setting aside of an award under the public policy ground, it would mean that the award should shock the conscience of the court and would not include what the court thinks is unjust on the facts of the case seeking to substitute its view for that of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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