The company, Hydro-Power Corporation, had approached the court seeking directions to restrain the DVB from ``illegally encashing the bank guarantees when it owed the company several lakh of rupees for work already done''.

The court had earlier issued notices to the Delhi Vidyut Board and a superintending engineer of Mayapuri, who allegedly tried to stop the petitioner from completing the work given to it as per contract, and also tried to encash the bank guarantees despite the board owing large sums of money to the company. Counsel for petitioner R.M. Bagai, said the respondents owed several lakh of rupees to the company for work already done but had not been paid the amount despite several reminders. The contract was given to the petitioner in July 1996 for erection, testing and commissioning of 220 KV D/C line from Gazipur substation to Noida substation, the petition added.

It alleged that the superintendent engineer in Mayapuri, S.M. Mazhar Ali, had put every possible hurdle to ensure that the contract in question was not completed by the petitioner at any cost as he was personally interested in diverting the work to certain other companies floated by his relatives.

The case has been fixed for further hearing on August 26.