NATHULAL Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the quashing of the order of the State Government dated August 8, 1974, and for ancillary reliefs.

(2.) The facts briefly are that on November 15, 1965 the petitioner submitted an application to the Chief Conservator of Forests, Rajasthan praying that he may be allowed to collect and take away on contract basis, like other forest products, 'Ratanjot seeds' which are a natural product of the forests in Udaipur forest area and which might be used for extracting oil. The petitioner made an offer for the collection and removal of 'Ratanjot' seeds from the Udaipur forest division during a period of ten years on making payment of an annual lease amount of Rs. 10,000 in respect thereof. The State Government by an order dated August 6. 1970 agreed to grant a lease in favour of the petitioner for the collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds from the entire Udaipur forest division for a period of ten years, on payment of the sum of Rupees 10,000 per annum as the lease amount therefor. However, for some reason, which is not very clear, the aforesaid order was cancelled by the State Government on June 19. 1971. Thereupon the petitioner made a representation and the State Government again 'by its order dated January 22, 1973 directed the Chief Conservator of Forests to grant a lease to the petitioner on the same terms as mentioned above for the collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds and the order dated June 19, 1971 was withdrawn. The Divisional Forest Officer, Udaipur, in pursuance of the aforesaid order of the State Government, directed the petitioner on May 7, 1974 vide Ex. 9 to deposit a sum of Rs. 25,000 representing the 1/4 the of the contract amount and also directed him to execute a contract. The petitioner deposited the aforesaid amount of Rs. 25,000 on May 21, 1974, It appears that on the next following day i.e. on May 22, 1974 the petitioner also executed a contract in the prescribed form for the collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds from Udaipur forest division. On that day the Divisional Forest Officer, Udaipur also issued a letter (Ex. 10) to the petitioner acknowledging the receipt of Rs. 25.000 representing 1/4th of the contract amount and also admitting the execution of the agreement by the petitioner. The petitioner was also directed by the aforesaid letter to deposit a sum of Rs. 8,500 in respect of the first year of the contract, namely for the year 1974-75 within 15 days of the receipt thereof. It appears that some dispute cropped up at that stage between the petitioner and the State Government as to whether the petitioner would be entitled to collect 'Ratanjot' seeds from the forest lying within the Panchayat areas or not. The petitioner did not make a deposit of the amount of Rs. 8,500 within 15 days of the receipt of the letter Ex. 10. However, he made a deposit of the aforesaid amount of Rs. 8,500 on August 13. 1974. It may be mentioned here that in the contract executed by the petitioner, a copy of which has been placed on record as Ex. R/4 it was stipulated that out of the amount of Rs. 25,000 deposited by the petitioner, a sum of Rs. 1,500 would be adjusted every year towards the yearly lease amount and that the petitioner would be required to make payment of the remaining sum out of the yearly lease amount within 15 days of the acceptance, of the contract during the first year and upto 30th April every year thereafter. After making the deposit of Rs. 8,500 the petitioner demanded that he should be put in possession, but the Divisional Forest Officer, Udaipur intimated to him on August 21, 1974 vide his letter Ex. R/3 that the State Government by its order dated August 8, 1974 had cancelled the lease granted to the petitioner in respect of the collection of 'Rataniot' seeds and that the petitioner could obtain a refund of the amount deposited by him in accordance with law. The Divisional Forest Officer, Udaipur also issued a public notice on August 19. 1974 to the effect that the contract for collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds in all the ranges of Udaipur Forest Division for the year 197475 would be given 'by public auction, which would take place on September 23, 1974. The petitioner thereupon protested against the unilateral revocation of the sanction of the State Government for giving a lease to him in respect of the collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds for a period of ten years, so far as Udaipur forest division was concerned, yet as no further action was taken by the State Government in the matter to redress the grievance of the petitioner, he proceeded to file the present writ petition. 3. The respondents in their reply admitted that the State Government had sanctioned the grant of a lease to the petitioner for the collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds from the Udaipur forest division for a period of ten years by its order dated January 22. 1973 and also admitted that the petitioner deposited the amount of Rs. 25,000 representing the 1/4 th of the contract amount as also the sum of Rs. 8,500 on account of the balance of the first year's lease money. However, it is averred on their behalf in para 20 of their reply that the contract was cancelled by the State Government vide their order dated August 8, 1974 as the petitioner failed to make the deposit of the yearly lease money within the stipulated time. The respondents also produced a copy of the order dated August 8, 1974 along with their reply to the writ petition. The aforesaid order runs as under:-

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner has raised several grounds in support of the writ petition but the principal submission urged by him is that the State Government acted in utter violation of the principles of natural justice in cancelling the order sanctioning the grant of the lease for the collection of 'Ratanjot' seeds to him for a period of ten years and that no reason was assigned for such cancellation in the order dated August 8, 1974. Learned counsel urged that the petitioner had invested considerable amount in establishing an industry for extracting oil from the 'Ratanjot' seeds and had deposited a sum of Rs. 25,000 in the first instance and a further sum of Rs. 8,500 thereafter with the State Government in pursuance of the order dated January 22, 1973 granting a contract to the petitioner for a period of ten years in that respect and that the State Government was not empowered to unilaterally cancel the grant made in favour of the petitioner without affording him a reasonable opportunity of hearing. Learned Additional Government Advocate submitted that the . petitioner was directed to deposit the amount of Rs. 8,500 within a period of 15 days by the order of the Divisional Forest Officer, Udaipur dated May 22, 1974, but as the petitioner failed to do so, the State Government acted within its rights in cancelling the contract granted in favour of the petitioner.