Sambalpur: Court orders seizure of officers’ furniture for non-payment of contractors’ dues

Sambalpur: A Civil Judge Court in Odisha issued order for seizure of officer furnitures for non-payment of dues of contractor. The order was issued for seizure of furniture of the Office of the Basin Manager and Chief Engineer of Upper Mahanadi Basin in Burla, office of Superintendent Engineer of Hirakud Dam Circle, Executive Engineer of Sambalpur Irrigation Division ordered to seal office furniture.

According to the information, the Orient Construction Private Limited did the work of Sambalpur Ring Road in 2000. However, after the work was completed, the contractor did not receive payment.

In 2005, the outstanding amount had reached Rs. 52 lakh. In this regard, the contractor approached the court of the Senior Civil Judge in 2009.

In 2009, the interest and principal had reached Rs 1.36 crore. The court had ordered to pay 6 percent interest as the money was not paid. However, the outstanding money was still not paid.

Now, this outstanding money has increased and reached Rs 1.88 crore by August 2024. Despite repeated notices as the dues was not paid, the court has ordered the seizure of 3 office furniture and attachment of the property as the outstanding money was not paid.

However, today, as per the orders of the Court, the officials reached the office of the Chief Engineer of the Water Resources Department with a direction to seize the property. However, when the court staff reached there, they found that the name of the office had been changed and there was no furniture in the office of the Chief Engineer.

The Chief Engineer said that the name of the office had already been changed from 2021. The court staff will inform the Court about this on April 7.