VISWESARDAS GOKULDAS Vs. B K NARAYAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiffs instituted a suit (O. S. No. 55 of 1957) against the defendant alleging that by a contract dated September 2, 1957 the defendant had agreed to assign to the plaintiffs his leasehold interest under a mining lease in respect of 184 acres of land in Kudrekanave Kaval, Hosadurga Taluk, and claiming specific performance of the contract. The Trial Court decreed the suit. The defendant filed an appeal against the decree. The High Court allowed the appeal and dismissed the suit. The present appeal has been filed by the paintiffs after obtaining a certificate under Article 133 of the Constitution. The main qestion arising in this appeal is whether there was a contract alleged in the plaint .

(2.) Under a contract dated August 3, 1957, the defendant agreed to sell to the plaintiffs 40,000 tons of float iron lying in the aforesaid mining area and gave them the right to win and remove the iron ore. We are not directly concerned with this contract in this appeal. On September 2, 1957 the defendant wrote the following letter to the plaintiffs:-

(3.) This document though worded as an agreement was in point of law an offer only. As a matter of fact, on September 2, 1957 the plaintiffs had not agreed to purchase the mining lease. Until both parties were bound there could be no concluded contract. The promise to keep the offer open for three months was not supported by any consideration. The defendant was at liberty to revoke the offer at any time before its acceptance by the plaintiffs. On October 31, 1957, the defendant posted a letter to the plaintiffs revoking the offer. This letter reached the plaintiffs on November 6, 1957. Before that date the plaintiffs did not accept the offer either orally or by any letter sent to the defendant.