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Judgment
Heard Mr. M. H. Laskar, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner and Mr. G. Bokolial, the learned Government Advocate appearing on behalf of the Respondents.
The instant writ petition has been filed by the Petitioner being aggrieved by the inaction on the part of the Respondent Authorities in not making payment of the bills of the Petitioner.
The Petitioner herein is a businessman by profession and earns his livelihood by operating the vehicle bearing Registration No. AS-12-W-6718.
It is the case of the Petitioner herein that the Respondent No.3 had taken the aforesaid vehicle of the Petitioner on a hire-charge basis for official purposes for the period from 01.04.2023 to 20.05.2025. After submitting the bills, the Petitioner received an amount of Rs.1,56,748/- for the period from 01.04.2023 to 30.06.2023 and an amount of Rs.1,69,326/- for the period from 01.07.2023 to 30.09.2023. However, the Petitioner has not received any payment for the period from 01.10.2023 to 20.05.2025.
The learned counsel for the Petitioner submitted that the Petitioner had submitted a bill amounting to Rs.10,26,168/- for the period from 01.10.2023 to 20.05.2025. However, the said amount has not been released to the Petitioner. The learned counsel for the Petitioner further submitted that the Petitioner had approached Respondent No.3 on several occasions, who had assured the Petitioner that the outstanding dues would be paid; however, the same have remained unpaid till date. Further to that, the Petitioner submitted a representation on 09.10.2025 before Respondent No.3 seeking release of the said amount. However, the amount of Rs.10,26,168/- continues to remain unpaid, compelling the Petitioner to approach this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
This Court had issued notice on 10.11.2025 and directed the Respondents to bring on record their stand by filing their affidavit.
Pursuant thereto, an affidavit-in-opposition has been filed by Respondent No.3 on 10.06.2026 wherein it has been stated that the Petitioner is entitled to an amount of Rs.10,03,396/- and not Rs.10,26,168/-. It has further been stated that the Petitioner has not submitted certain documents, namely, the updated GST 3B Form, Declaration Certificate, Driving Licence, etc., along with each bill. Paragraph No.5 of the said affidavit-in-opposition, being relevant for the purpose of the instant proceedings, is reproduced herein below:
“5.That with regard to the statements made in paragraph no.3 of the writ petition the deponent respectfully states that upon receipt of the Writ Petition along with connected records, it is seen that the petitioner has claimed hire charge bills amounting to Rs.10,26,168/- (Rupees ten lakhs twenty-six thousand one hundred sixty-eight) only for the period from 01.10.2023 to 21.05.2025. On scrutiny of records, it is found that 7 (Seven) numbers of hire charge bills amounting to Rs.10,03,396/- have been received on various dates during the period. Therefore, the petitioner has made an excess claim of Rs.22,772/- instead of actual claim of Rs.10,03,396/-. On further scrutiny of bill record, it also appears that the petitioner has not submitted few vouchers, i.e. updated GST 3B form, declaration certificate and driving licence etc. along with each bill. Though the petitioner has stated in the bills that he has submitted few documents like driving licence etc. but same were not available along with the bills. Considering the same, petitioner has already been directed to submit the documents over phone and in turn, he informed that he was out of station and the documents will be submitted on return to Guwahati. Therefore, the bills received from the petitioner could not be processed due to want of these documents, but bills of the petitioner will be processed as soon as the documents are received from the petitioner. Moreover, instruction has already been received from Assam Police Headquarters that no Hire Charge bill proposal will be accepted unless all required documents are found in order.”
Taking into account the above, it therefore appears that the Petitioner is entitled to Rs.10,03,396/-. However, for making payment, the Petitioner is required to be registered under the appropriate provisions of the GST and also submit the necessary documents.
Accordingly, the instant writ petition stands disposed of with the following observations and directions:
The Respondent Authorities are directed pay the Petitioner the admitted amount of Rs.10,03,396/- or such amount after statutory deductions.
The payment shall only be made pursuant to the Petitioner getting himself registered under the provisions of Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and produce the GSTN, Driving License, Declaration Certificate to the Respondent Authorities.
The said exercise be completed within a period of 6 (six) months from the date a certified copy of the instant judgment is served upon the Respondent No.3 i.e. the Commissioner of Police, Guwahati.
The period of 6 (six) months shall be counted only from the date of submission of the certified copy of the instant judgment to the Commissioner of Police along with the copy of the Registration Certificate of the Petitioner under the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the Driving License and the Declaration Certificate.
Any amount paid during the pendency of the present proceedings would be set off at the time of disbursal of the amounts to the Petitioner.