SANJEEV BHANDARI Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, who is a Wine Contractor, has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari quashing the auction of liquor vends of Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr Districts alleging to be in violation of auction conditions, Punjab Liquor Licence Rules, 1956 (for short "License Rules 1956") and the directions of this Court in Civil Writ Petition No. 4781 of 1995 titled Makhan Lal & Company v. State of Punjab, decided on August 04, 1995.

(2.) LICENSE for various categories of liquor vends are granted under the License Rules, 1956. L-2 and L-14A liquor vends are in dispute in the present writ petition. L-2 license is for wholesale and retail vend of foreign liquor to the public only which can be granted by auction, pre-determined price or by way of negotiations under the License Rules, 1956. License L-14A is granted for retail vend of country spirit for consumption off the premises and the mode of grant is again auction, pre-determined price or by way of negotiations. The process of auction of liquor vends to grant license in the form of L-2 and l-14A is held in the month of March and the license is from 1st of April to March 31 next year. Auction announcements were made for the grant of liquor vends for the year 2004-2005 on 19.2.2004. In pursuance of such auction announcements, the auction of liquor vends was to start from March 4, 2004. Auction notice in respect of liquor vends for Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr was published in the newspapers on 29.2.2004. As per public notice, auction (of) liquor vends of Jalandhar I, Jalandhar II, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr was to be conducted at Jalandhar. It was stipulated in the auction notice that intended bidder is required to deposit Rs. 250/- as entry fee in the form of slip against which he will be allowed entry inside the auction venue. It was further stipulated that the successful bidder shall be required to deposit 15% amount as security of the license fee, out of which 5% will have to be deposited at the spot at the fall of the hammer by means of Bank Draft or cash, 5% by 25th of March, 2004 and remaining 5% on or before 31st of March, 2004. Country liquor vends and foreign liquor vends will be put to auction together in groups. The information regarding allotment of quota, formation of groups will be displayed in the office of the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner one day before.

(3.) ON 8.3.2004, the petitioner filed amended writ petition impleading respondent No. 4 - successful bidder of Jalandhar I, Jalandhar II and Nawanshahr in the sum of Rs. 163.16 crores as against the government bid (Sarkari Boli) of Rs. 163.11 crores. Respondent No. 5 is the successful bidder of Hoshiarpur in the sum of Rs. 70 crores as against the government bid of Rs. 68.78 crores. It has been alleged by the petitioner that auction proceedings started at 11.00 a.m. on 4.3.2004 and were completed at 11.10 a.m. The auction was conducted in total violation of License Rules 1956, auction conditions and directions given by this Court in Civil Writ Petition No. 4781 of 1995 titled Makhan Lal and Company v. State of Punjab and others. It has been further pointed out that the entire auction process of the Districts was completed within few minutes without following the procedure as prescribed under the License Rules 1956 and the same was allotted to the firms of Mr. Ponti Chadha. It has been mentioned that the liquor vends of District Nawanshahr were allotted for mere Rs. 37 crores against the available bid of Rs. 40 crores. Similarly, auction was closed at Rs. 70 crores in respect of Hoshiarpur in spite of the fact that the petitioner and his associate Mr. Mohinder Pal had offered Rs. 72 crores as the bid which was totally ignored. Reference was made to the newspaper reports to show that the auction proceedings were stage managed to allot the license in favour of Ponti Chadha or his associates. The petitioner has further stated that if there had been a fair auction in terms of the License Rules, 1956, the State could have earned much more revenue. If the auction had been conducted group-wise and within the revenue limit as contemplated under the License Rules, 1956, the cumulative auction proceeds for the Districts of Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur taken together would have been at least more by Rs. 5 crores. The petitioner has assured and undertaken before this Court to this effect. It has been further mentioned that at the time of auction on 4.3.2004, Mr. Mann made bid on behalf of his group of contractors, which was found Rs. 5 crores more than the amount at which the bids of liquor vends of Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr were closed. It was further pleaded that if given a chance of re-auction in groups of Rs. 15 crores as a unit, the petitioner assures this Court that the proceeds for these two districts will get enhanced by at least Rs. 5 crores or even more.