BALDE MUKUNDAYYA Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH HYDERABAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to quash the order of the Board of Revenue in file No. 45/87/1956, dated 31-7-1957 passed in confirmation of the order of the Commissioner, of Excise, Hyderabad dated 10-12-1955.

(2.) The petitioners obtained a contract front the Government of Hyderabad for sale of liquor in the Khammam group of six shops for the year 1950-51, having become the highest bidders in the public auction. They paid the rentals for a few months regularly and thereafter defaulted in paying the same. This led the Department to start proceedings for the realization of the arrears of rentals as arrears of land revenue. At that stage, the petitioners approached the authorities concerned to pay them compensation for the loss they sustained as result of the shifting of the shops from the middle of the town to sites outside the abadi selected by the Sites Selection Committee of Khammam and also on account of the shifting of some of the shops situated on the borders between the erstwhile Hyderabad State and the Andhra state to residential quarters nearer his shops.

(3.) The request of the petitioners was rejected by the Commissioner of Excise which decision was confirmed in appeal by the Board of Revenue. The matter was then taken up in revision before the Minister for Revenue. On the representations made by the petitioners, the Minister thought that owing to the shifting of their shops some dislocation wag caused to their trade resulting in some loss and that it was proper that something should be done for them in that regard. He, however, felt that there was no material to enable him to compute the losses. He therefore, remanded the matter to the Commissioner of Excise for estimating the losses.