- (1.) OM Prakash, J. Brief facts of the case are that all the petitioners parti cipated in the auction held on 27th September, 1993 and then each petitioner made the highest bid and filed highest tender for grant of lease of one year com mencing from September, 1993 to October. 1994. Since a stay order was passed by the High Court in Writ Petition No. 30005 of 1993, the lease deed could not be executed by the respondents and at the time of the lease was running fast, the petitioners applied by application dated 27-12-1993 to refund their security and the amount of first instalment which they deposited on the date of auction when the highest bid was made.
(2.) IT is admitted in paragraph 6 of the counter-affidavit that the bid of the petitioners could not be accepted on account of the stay order passed in the aforesaid writ petition which stayed the finalisation of the leases in favour of the petitioners. In paragraph 10 of the counter-affidavit it is stated that the writ petitions No. 30005 of 1993 and 30006 of 1993 were decided on 14-2-1994 and then the bid/tender of the petitioners had been accepted. The case of the petitioners is that they sought withdrawal of the security and the amount of first instalment having been deposited on the date of auction by application dated 27-12-1993, which was received by the respon dents on 11-1-1994, that is much before the date of acceptance of their bids by the respondents on 14-2-1994 and therefore, the plea of acceptance of their bids cannot be successfully taken up against the petitioners. The question for consideration is whether the petitioners were entitled to get refund of the security and the amount of first instalment deposited by them at the time of auction before their bids/tenders were accept ed on 14-2-1994.
(3.) SIMILAR question came up for consideration in Writ Petition No. 9696 of 1994 Shiv Trading Company and another v. The District Magistrate District Officer Banda and another, in which we accepted the contention of the peti tioner that they can withdraw their offer before that was finally accepted by the respondents. In paragraph 16 of the counter-affidavit it is averred that the security furnished by the petitioners were forfeited and orders to refund the amount of first instalment deposited by each petitioner were passed. The question is when the petitioners withdraw their offer much before the acceptance of their bids was communicated to them whether the security furnished by them can be forfeited? ,;