WEST BENGAL STATE SEED CORPORATION LIMITED Vs. NORTH EASTERN REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETING CORPORATION LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appeal is directed against a completely unreasoned order on a veritable money claim without there being the slightest bit of admission on the part of the appellants herein. To boot, several months after the order was passed, a mischievous application followed where the order passed under Article 226 of the Constitution was sought to be converted into a money decree by supplying facts and figures, but the court merely add a line to the earlier order.

(2.) There is no dispute that the first respondent supplied seeds for wheat cultivation to the State Government. There is no dispute that the first respondent can demonstrate that there is some money which may be due and owing to it from the State Government on account of the supply of seeds that it effected. The question is whether, without there being any admission as to the liability by a statutory authority, a writ in the nature of mandamus may be issued for payment of any amount, whether specified or unspecified, without the court addressing the dispute sought to be raised by the statutory body.

(3.) An oversimplified case was sought to be made out by the writ petitioner. The writ petitioner relied on a letter issued by the Director of Agriculture, in the State Government to the Managing Director of the West Bengal State Seed Corporation Limited dated January 6, 2012. The request in the letter was to inform the Directorate of the quantity of wheat seeds against the two several lots lying undistributed with the corporation. The two lots of seeds were referred to in the letter by the alphabets "R" and "NR". According to the writ petitioner, the statement appended to the letter would reveal that samples from the entire lot supplied by the writ petitioner were sent for examination, out of which 58 lots were found as "R" and 28 lots were found as "NR". Even "R" and "NR" are not clarified either in the letter of January 6, 2012 or in the statement appended thereto.