KOHLI BROTHERS Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Conservator of Forests, Jammu Circle, issued a notice in the year 1965 inviting tenders from persons and firms registered as Forest Lessees in the Forest Department of Jammu and Kashmir Government for the purpose of leasing out the right to convert and remove beyo nd the limits of the demarcated Forests timber and firewood from trees marked for felling interalia in compartments Nos : 1 and 2 of Billawar Range and Compartments Nos: 55, 56, 57 and 58 of Basohli Range. In response to this notice the plaintiff, Messrs Kohli Brothers, which is a partnership firm, submitted two tenders offering Rs. 16,51,000/ - in respect of Compartment Nos: 1 and 2 of Billawar Range and Rs. 22,31,000.00 in respect of Compartments Nos: 55,56,57 and 58 of Basohli Range. Both these tenders were accepted by the Government. Whereas the plaintiff executed the agreement in respect of lease of Compartments Nos: 55,56,57 and 58 of Basohli Range, it did not, despite the intimation given to it by the Conservator of Forests that the Govt. had accepted its offer in respect of Compartments Nos. 1 and 2 of Billawar Range and it should pay the balance of security of Rs. 8.020/ - and l/5th of the total sinking fund amounting to Rs. 3,302/ - and sign the formal agreement in terms of the tender notice, comply with the directions. On failure of the plaintiff to pay the balance of the security money etc. and to execute the agreement as provided in the tender notice, the earnest money of Rs. 25,000.00 deposited by it was confiscated and intimation thereof was given to it by the Conservator of Forests on February 1, 1966. This action against plaintiff was taken in terms of Clauses 15 and 16 of the tender notice which read as under: - "15. The earnest money that must accompany each tender is given in the statement attached to clause 2 and must be in the form of revenue deposit receipt from any treasury of Jammu and Kashmir State or a deposit receipt from any bank recognized by the Jammu and Kashmir Government pledged to the Conservator of forests Jammu Circle, Jammu. The earnest money will be returned to unsuccessful tenderer but retained in the case of successful tenderers and will count as part of the security money which will be 6% of the annual lease value but in no case less than 1% of the total lease value rounded off to the nearest thousand. The C.C.F. may however increase the security to any amount not exceeding 6% of the total royalty. The annual lease value works to 4 of the total royalty of one year, 1/3 for two years, Â ¼th for three years and 1/n+l for ten -year lease.

(2.) ON April, 1972, the plaintiff brought the present suit for recovery of Rs. 25,000/ - against the State alleging inter that the tender notice issued by the Conservator of Forests was illegal as he was not the competent authority for inviting tenders from the intending forest lessees; that on realizing this illegality it intimated to the Government that it would not be in a position to work the lease; that it also informed the Government that since it was not in a position to work out both the leases simultaneously, the working of lease of Compartments Nos: 1 and 2 of Billawar Range be allowed to be deferred that the Government did not consider the prayer of the plaintiffs sympathetically and being fully conscious of fact that the tender notice was illegal and the acceptance of the bid in response thereto was not enforceable, it illegally ordered on Feb: 1, 1966 the confiscation of the earnest money of Rs. 25,000/ - deposited by the plaintiff and deregistered the firm; that both the aforesaid orders of forfeiture of the earnest money and deregistration of the firm were unauthorised and illegal; that both orders being illegal, it i.e. the plaintiff served a notice on the Chief Secretary to Government of Jammu and Kashmir on January 28, 1972, calling upon the Govt. to refund Rs. 25,000/ -, that as the Government neither sent a reply to the notice nor returned the earnest money, hence the suit.

(3.) THE suit was resisted by the Govt. Interalia on the ground that it was time barred.