The Nepalgunj bench of Tulsipur High Court has ordered the government not to blacklist Pappu Construction, notorious for leaving most of the projects it contracted in disarray.

The court has also asked the government not to confiscate the advance payment guarantee of the builder.

A division bench of judges Bishnudev Paudel and Rishi Adhikari gave the verdict on November 28. Pappu had submitted Rs70 million as bank deposit during contract agreement of Sikta Irrigation Project.

Sunit Rauniyar of Pappu Construction had filed a writ in the High Court against the Sikta Irrigation Project and its officials, claiming that the project was trying to confiscate its  guarantee amount. The government had scrapped Pappu’s contract, saying that it did not complete the construction works on Daduwa Canal of the Sikta Irrigation Project within the stipulated timeline.

In the writ, the petitioner claimed the government did not resolve disputes through a mediation council. In the terms of their contract, Pappu and the government had agreed to resolve disputes through a mediation council. The Court issued order based on this agreement.

“The court order was issued based on the agreement,” High Court Registrar Hiranya Prasad Adhikari said on Wednesday.

The government has since invited a fresh tender for Daduwa Canal works.

Pappu had agreed to complete the Daduwa Canal works within 28 months. But the builder, which started construction works in mid-May 2016, completed only 7 percent of the works within the provided deadline.

Engineer Homnath Bhusal of the Urban Development and Building Construction Division Office said Pappu Construction failed to make progress on construction works despite their repeated requests.

“The contractor company did not heed our calls,” said Bhusal, adding that the local administration had also warned the contracting company to pick up its pace.

Pappu had won the 32.2-km Daduwa canal construction for Rs988.1 million. Once ready, the canal is expected to irrigate 16,000 hectares of land. But the project has been delayed by two years as Pappu did not build the infrastructure on time.