CHAMPARAN SALT AGENCY Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL these cases have been heard together since the impugned order is one and common and this judgment will govern all of them.

(2.) FOR appointment of Coal Agents for the periods from 1-11-1988 to 31-10-1991, applications were invited in pursuance of the advertisement in the newspapers. A Committee was constituted consisting of respondents 2 to 7 under the Chairmanship of respondent No. 2. The applications so received in pursuance of the advertisement were considered by the said Committee. Certain conditions were imposed and the applicants were required to submit their applications annexing certain documents such as, Treasury Chalan of Rs. 2,000 experience certificate, income-tax clearance certificate, commercial taxes clearance certificate, from the nationalised Bank concerning financial soundness of the applicants and affidavit stating whether the applicant or his father or brother or any member of his family were convicted for any offence under the Essential Commodities Act or in any other criminal case and also stating whether such criminal cases were pending or not.

(3.) IT has now been well-settled by the Supreme Court in the case of life Insurance Corporation of India v. Escorts Ltd. and Ors. , that every action of the State or an instrumentality of the State must be informed by reason and in appropriate cases, actions uninformed by reason may be questioned as arbitrary in proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.