C.S. No. 457 of 2013. Case: PTK Architects and Ors. Vs Rockman Industries Chennai Private Limited. High Court of Madras (India)

Case NumberC.S. No. 457 of 2013
CounselFor Appellant: K.F. Manavalan, Adv. and For Respondents: T. Mathusudhan Reddy, Adv.
JudgesT. Ravindran, J.
IssueIndian Partnership Act, 1932 - Sections 69, 69(2)
Judgement DateApril 05, 2017
CourtHigh Court of Madras (India)

Judgment:

T. Ravindran, J.

  1. The suit has been laid by the plaintiffs for recovery of money.

  2. The averments contained in the plaint are briefly stated as follows:

    "The first plaintiff is a Firm of reputed Architects carrying on professional practice as Architects, Engineers, Planners, Designers, Consultants & Supervisors and rendering all connected and allied services in Chennai. The defendant is engaged in the business of manufactures of Aluminum Alloys & High Pressure Die Castings. The defendant had proposed to put up a Machine shop, foundry building etc. at Cheyyar for the defendant's business. The plaintiffs vide its letter dated 11.01.2011 as well as further letter dated 09.03.2011 offered to provide their services and after negotiations, the defendant vide letter dated 01.04.2011 confirmed the plaintiffs as the Architect for the Project at Cheyyar."

  3. The letters dated 11.01.2011 & 09.03.2011 of the plaintiffs and the letter dated 01.04.2011 of the defendant constituted the contract between the parties. As per the contract above mentioned, the payments for the services were to be released to the plaintiffs as envisaged in the contract and the same being a commercial transaction, in the event of non-payment of the plaintiffs' invoices on time, interest thereon at 18% per annum was liable to be paid on the unpaid value of the invoices from the date of each such invoice was raised by the plaintiffs. As per the contract, the plaintiffs have complied with their obligations for the defendant's project, however, not been paid for their professional services as per the invoices described in the plaint and thus, a sum of Rs. 21,61,925/- is liable to be paid by the defendant towards the principal along with interest thereon at 18% per annum, in all amounting to Rs. 26,43,234/-. That apart, the defendant has also not remitted the TDS in respect of the amount paid under the other invoice nor issued necessary TDS certificates and therefore, the plaintiffs have been necessitated to pay the amount to the competent authority towards the TDS, which remained unpaid by the defendant. As such, a sum of Rs. 1,92,155/-had remained under the "deducted" but unpaid TDS account and the same when calculated with the interest, amount to Rs. 2,43,940/-. In all, the defendant is liable to pay a sum of Rs. 28,87,174/- to the plaintiffs for the service rendered by the plaintiffs for the project of the defendant as on 07.03.2013. The defendant vide various letters as well as the e-mail had acknowledged the liability to pay the sum due to the plaintiffs for the services rendered by them and thereafter, as promised, the defendant did not make the payment and after repeated requests, the defendant issued a cheque dated 01.12.2012 drawn on the State Bank of India, SME Branch, Guindy, Chennai for a sum of Rs. 7,50,000/- in favour of the plaintiffs. However, the said cheque had been returned unpaid and therefore, left with no other alternative, except to claim the amount due to them, the plaintiffs issued the legal...

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