- (1.) The facts material for the purpose of disposing of this appeal by Special Leave are shortly as follows : The appellants before us claim to have been dealers in foreign liquor since 1922 and to have, before the partition of the country, held licenses in Forms L-1, L-2, L-10 and L-11 at Amritsar, Sialkot and Multan. The appellants allege that in 1945 they had also secured a license in Form L-2 in respect of some premises in Chawri Bazar, Delhi but that the operation of the said license had to be suspended on account of the unsuitability of the Chawri Bazar premises. Then came the communal riots in the wake of the partition of the country and that license could not be renewed. In 1951 the appellants applied to the Chief Commissioner, Delhi (Ex. 1) for licenses both in Forms L-1 and L-2 in respect of Karolbagh or at any place in Delhi. On May 17, 1951 the Home Secretary to the Chief Commissioner by letter (Ex. 2) conveyed to the appellants the sanction of the Chief Commissioner to the grant to them of a license in Form L-2 in respect of Karolbagh, Delhi. This license has ever since then been renewed from year to year. In 1954 a vacancy arose in respect of a license in Form L-2 on account of the closure of the business of Messrs. Army and Navy Stores of Regal Buildings, New Delhi, which held such a license. Accordingly on January 21, 1954 the appellants submitted an application (Ex. 4) to the Deputy Commissioner for the grant of a foreign liquor license in Form L-2 in the aforesaid vacancy. In that application the appellants stated, inter alia, that they were "prepared to operate it in such a part of Delhi as may be determined by the authorities." Not having received any reply for nearly 3 months and apprehending that interested persons were endeavouring to cause hindrance in the matter of the granting of the license to them on the plea that the appellants had no premises in Connaught Place the appellants on March 11, 1954, wrote a letter (Ex. 5) to the chief Commissioner in which, after pointing out that Karolbagh where they had their L-1 license was in New Delhi, the appellants stated : "In any case, we have already made it clear in our application which we made to the Deputy Commissioner, Delhi on the 21st January 1954 that we are prepared to operate this license in any locality which the authorities might deem proper". This letter was acknowledged by the Personal Assistant to the Chief Commissioner who, on March 15, 1954, stated (Ex. 6) that the "application No. nil dated 18-3-1954 on the subject of grant of foreign liquor license in Form L-2" had been forwarded to the Home Secretary, Delhi State for disposal. Exhibit 7 to the petition is in important document. It is a letter dated May 2 , 1954, addressed by the appellants to the Excise and Taxation Commissioner stating that "with a view to avoiding any possible objection as to locality etc. we have secured suitable premises also in the Connaught Place area, New Delhi in which area has occurred a vacancy on account of the surrender of this license by Messrs. Army and Navy Stores". The letter concluded with the request that early orders be passed on their application. On July 30, 1954, the appellants wrote a long letter (Ex. 8) to the Chief Commissioner claiming justice in the matter of their application for the L-2 license. In the second paragraph of that letter it was stated : "It is now being acclaimed by the party concerned and their friends that they have succeeded in removing the only obstacle that stood in the way of their getting the said L-2 license by so arranging matters that our application has been kept back by the Excise Commissioner and that only five or six other applications of firms without much merit in them have been forwarded to you in order that they might have a smooth sailing as against those applicants." The appellants prayed that the Excise Commissioner might be directed to forward all records concerning the case to the Chief Commissioner so that the latter might be able to arrive at a just conclusion and they asked for a hearing to explain their claim fully. A copy of this letter appears to have been endorsed to the Excise Commissioner on August 13, 1934, by the Under Secretary, Finance. The Excise Commissioner then wrote a letter No. 295/C/54 dated August 31, 1954, to the Under Secretary, Finance, a copy of which was produced by the learned Solicitor General at the hearing before us. In this letter the Excise Commissioner explained why the application of the appellants was not considered by him to be a good and proper one and stated the reasons why, according to him, the applications of two other applicants, including Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj (respondent No. 5), should be given the preference. In the penultimate paragraph of this letter of explanation it was stated : "In the end it may also be added that the applicant has no premise in New Delhi and as such he has no claim. The license in Form L-2 is granted in respect of certain premises." The conclusion was that "under the circumstances there is no force in the application of Messrs. Ghaio Mall and Sons." It is apparent that the Excise Commissioner did not remember that the appellants had, by their letter (Ex. 7) of May 21, 1954, addressed to him, stated that they had secured suitable premises also in the Connaught Place area, New Delhi. Be that as it may, on September 11, 1954, the appellants wrote another letter (Ex. 9) to the Chief Commissioner pressing their claim. In this letter reference was made to their letter to the Excise Commissioner of May 21, 1954 (Ex. 7), in which it had been stated that the appellants had secured suitable premises in the Connaught Place area in New Delhi. A copy of this letter was sent to the same Under Secretary, Finance to whom the Excise Commissioner had written his letter of August 31, 1954, alleging that the appellants had no premises in New Delhi. Exhibit 9A is the postal acknowledgment by the Under Secretary, Fianc_of the letter containing the copy of the appellants' letter but it does not appear from the record that the Under Secretary, Finance thought it necessary to remind the Excise Commissioner that the appellants were maintaining that they had secured suitable premises in New Delhi. This was followed by a letter (Ex. 10) from the appellants to the Excise Commissioner intimating that an application had been made to the Collector on September 11, 1954, for a change of their premises for L-1 license from Karolbagh, New Delhi to H-32 Connaught Circus, New Delhi. Although this letter had been written in connection with the change of L-1 license, it certainly did specify that the appellants had secured the premises H-32 Connaught Circus. The personal Assistant to the Excise Commissioner replied (Ex. 11) that the matter was under consideration. There was a reminder (Ex. 12) sent to the Excise Commissioner on December 8, 1954, about the change of L-1 license from Karolbagh to Connaught Circus. It appears from papers, for the first time produced before us at the hearing of this appeal, that on September 3, 1954, a note was put up by the Under Secretary, Finance before the Finance Secretary, Shri S. K. Mazumdar. At the forefront of this note we find the following statement : "The applicants (Messrs. Ghaio Mall and Sons) have no premises in Connaught Circus. For this reason, if for no other, their claim has to be rejected." The note concluded with the recommendation that, in case it was decided that the vacancy should be filled, the recommendation of Excise Commissioner should be accepted, that is to say, the L-2 license should go to Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj (respondent No. 5). On September 8, 1954, the Finance Secretary simply endorsed the file to the Chief Minister who, on September 14, 1954, recorded the following order on the file : "Commissioner's recommendation may be accepted." There is nothing on the record produced before us to indicate that the matter was sent up to the Chief Commissioner or that his concurrence was obtained under S. 36 of the Government of Part C States Act (49 of 1951). On December 14, 1954, the Under Secretary, Finance wrote to the Excise Commissioner a letter which was for the first time produced at the hearing before the High Court and to which detailed reference will be made hereafter. On January 15, 1955, the appellants were informed that the change applied for by them in respect of their L-1 License had been allowed. The appellants were not told anything about the rejection of their application for L-2 license, but evidently they came to know that the L-2 license, for which a vacancy had arisen on account of the closure of Messrs. Army and Navy Stores had been granted to Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj (respondent No. 5). On December 24, 1954, the appellants wrote severally to the Home Secretary (Ex. 14), Finance Secretary (Ex. 15) and the Under Secretary, Finance (Ex. 16) asking for a copy of the order or orders granting license to Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj and/or rejecting their own application for L-2 foreign liquor license. Three postal acknowledgments (Exs. 16A, 16B, 16C) relating to those three letters are on the record. The appellants got no reply from any of them.
(2.) Not having received any reply the appellants on December 21, 1954, moved the Punjab High Court (Circuit Bench) under Art. 226 for appropriate writs or orders, but as it was not then quite clear whether the order granting the license to Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj had actually been made, the Circuit Bench summarily dismissed that writ application as premature. There were proceedings taken by the appellants to obtain leave to appeal first from this Court under Art. 136 which was adjourned sine die and then from the High Court under Art. 133, but it is not necessary to go into further details of those proceedings. After the appellants had definitely ascertained that the L-2 license had been granted to Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj, the appellants, instead of proceeding with their application for leave to appeal to this Court, filed a fresh writ petition in the High Court (Circuit Bench) out of which the present appeal has arisen.
(3.) In the present writ petition the appellants have impleaded 7 respondents, namely, (1) The State of Delhi, (2) The Chief Minister, Delhi (3) The Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Delhi, (3A) Secretary, Delhi State, (3B) Under Secretary, Finance (4) The Chief Commissioner, Delhi and (5) Messrs. Gainda Mall Hem Raj. The principal grounds urged by the appellants in support of this petition are that the applications of the appellants and of the other applicants had never been placed before the Chief Commissioner who, under R. 1 of Ch. 5 of the Delhi Liquor License Rules, 1935 framed under S. 59 of the Punjab Excise Act (Punjab 1 of 1914) as extended to Delhi, was the only competent authority empowered to grant L-2 license for wholesale and retail vend of foreign liquor to the public and that the Chief Commissioner had never applied his mind to the applications and did not in fact make any order and that respondents Nos. 2 and 3 had purported to exercise jurisdiction and powers which were not vested in them by law and that their decision, if any, had not received the concurrence of the Chief Commissioner, as required by the proviso to S. 36 of the Government of Part C States Act. The appellants pray for the issue of appropriate writs, orders or directions (a) quashing and setting aside the order granting L-2 license to respondent No. 5, (b) directing respondent No. 4 (the Chief Commissioner) to hold proper enquiry regarding suitability of premises etc., to hear both the parties and to decide the application of the petitioner before taking up the application of 5th respondent. There is a prayer in the nature of a prayer for further and other reliefs and there is the usual prayer for costs.;