THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Principal Sub-Judge S.S. Vassan has issued a warrant against the Chief Secretary in connection with the delay in issuing a compensation awarded to a contractor involved in the construction of the Kallada Irrigation Project on Tuesday. The warrant will be executed before Friday.

The warrant was issued after the Chief Secretary failed to appear in person before the court following a show-cause notice issued by the court. The court also held that the Superintending Engineer, who appeared on behalf of the Chief Secretary at the court was not authorised to do so.

The show-cause notice was issued to the Chief Secretary for breach of contract and resultant financial loss to the tune of Rs.7.5 lakh (including interest) incurred by Abraham Abraham, a private contractor and resident of Thodupuzha, while laying a pipeline at Pandalam branch canal in September 1986.

As per the agreement, the work on the pipeline had to be completed within three months.

However, the work could not be completed within the allotted time as the irrigation wing failed to provide the necessary assistance.

The dispute was subsequently referred to the arbitrator who awarded a compensation of Rs.3.6 lakh to the contractor in November 1994.

The Principal Sub-Court also upheld the award of the arbitrator by issuing a decree in November 2004.

A review petition submitted by the Government to review the judgement was dismissed by the court on September 2005.

Following this, a petition was filed by the contractor in September this year to realise the amount from the account of the Chief Secretary at the Sub-Treasury in the Secretariat by attaching the account.

But even after attaching the account, the government failed to release the compensation amount, which eventually led to issuance of a showcause notice and finally the warrant.

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