- (1.) AGGRIEVED by the illegal cancellation of the contract bid of the petitioner for realising Vahan Adda Shulk of the vehicles within the limit of Nagar Panchayat Pachperwa, District Gonda and the allotment made in favour of one Sri Dharmendra Pratap Singh by order dated 28-4-1977 contained in Annexure-5 to the writ petition and the order dated 23-4-1997; by which the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad has communicated the said decision to the District Magistrate, Gonda the petitioner has approached this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking to quash the orders dated 28-4-1997 and 23-4- 1997 passed by the Executive Of ficer, Nagar Panchayat, Pachperwa, District Gonda and the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad, respectively.
(2.) ACCORDING to the petitioner a notice dated 12-3-1997 was issued by the Nagar Panchayat inviting tenders/sealed offers for the auction of 'vahan Adda Shulk' and the offers were to be submitted on 22- 3-1997. The petitioner after completing the neces sary te'rms and conditions of the notice of fered bid of Rs. 2, 05, 000. The bid of the petitioner was found to be the highest and was accepted by the Chairman of the Nagar Panchayat and petitioner was required to execute the agreement for realising the 'vahan Adda Shulk' through letter dated 31-3-1997. The petitioner after depositing 1/4th amount of bid i. e. Rs. 51, 250 signed the agreement and the Chairman also ex ecuted the documents on behalf of Nagar Panchayat, thus, a concluded contract has come into existence. It has been alleged by the petitioner that all of a sudden on 28-4-1997 the opposite party No. 2 on the basis of an order passed by the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad dated 23-4-1997 cancelled the petitioner's contract and it was further communicated that second highest bid of Sri Dharmendra Pratap Singh has been accepted. The petitioner has challenged the order mainly on the ground that he had not been given any opportunity whatsoever either by the Chairman, Nagar Panchayat or Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad. The petitioner has also alleged that after the contract was concluded and the same was executed, the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad had no authority to rescind the contract and to allot the Theka to the second highest bidder, the opposite party No. 4. The petitioner has also alleged that he had completed all the necessary formalities as required under the terms and conditions of the auction notice and the agreement was also executed and thereafter he had started working on the Theka, which cannot be cancelled without assigning any reason and by conducting some enquiry behind the back of the petitioner at the instance of respondent No. Counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of respondent No. 4 and it has been alleged that the petitioner has placed forged documents and in collusion with the Chair man of Nagar Panchayat Pachperwa, Dis trict Gonda he has manipulated the entire record to complete the proceedings for grant of Theka in his favour. The respondent No. 4 has alleged that the contract has been obtained by petitioner by playing fraud in connivance of the Chairman to deprive the respondent No. 1 of his lawful claim which has been found to be legally correct after necessary enquiry was made by the District Magistrate on the direction of the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad. The respondent No. 4 has alleged that by notice dated 17-3-1997, Nagar Panchayat Pachperwa invited sealed offers for auction of 'vahan Adda Shulk'. The price of the tender form was fixed as Rs. 500 with the security money of Rs. 5, 000 to be deposited through Bank draft. It has been alleged that in all 5 persons namely, Shakeel Ahmad, Shambhu Nath Sharrna, Aftab Alam Khan, Kanoj Kumar and Dharmendra Pratap obtained tender forms vide receipt No. 547 to 551 after depositing Rs. 500 through Bank draft and deposit of earnest money of Rs. 5, 000 by each one of them. The bid of the respondent No. 4 was found to be the highest at Rs. 2, 00, 101 and he was directed to deposit 1/4th of the said amount. The respondent No. 4 has deposited 1/4th of the said amount by receipt No. 552 dated 29-4-1997. The respondent No. 4 has al leged that after he has deposited 1/4th amount, the petitioner in connivance with the Chairman, submitted a forged and fic titious tender after depositing Rs. 500 as the price of the tender form in cash and Rs. 5, 000 as the earnest money on anther book of receipts vide receipt No. 553 dated 22-3-1997. The petitioner on the basis of forged notice deposited the amount of Rs. 500 in cash towards the price of tender form and also an order passed by Adhyaksha Nagar Panchayat dated 31-3-1997 contained in Annexure-2 to the writ petition approving the offer made by the petitioner of Rs. 2, 05, 000. The petitioner also got the agree ment signed contained in Annexure-4 to the writ petition under the signatures of the Chairman, Nagar Panchayat to operate Theka in his favour. The petitioner has also placed a forged chart of the offers made by different tenderers in which he got his name included for Rs. 2, 05, 000. The respondent No. 4 has also alleged that 1/4th amount deposited by him through receipt No. 552 on 22-3-1997 was deposited in the Bank on 25-3-1997 by the Executive Officer Nagar Panchayat by the money deposited by the petitioner through receipt No. 553 on 22-3-1997 could not be deposited till 2-4-1997 for reasons best known to the Chairman and the Executive Officer. The respondent No. 4 in the above circumstances represented through his representation dated 2-4-1997 to the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad for conducting an open enquiry regarding fraud committed by the petitioner and the Chairman, Nagar Panchayat. The Executive Officer has also submitted his report dated 2-4-1997 which is contained in Annexure-C. A. 3 in which the facts alleged by the respondent No. 4 have been affirmed and it was stated that the Chairman after calling him at his residence, got the new receipt prepared and issued to petitioner for deposit of cash. The receipts were got signed forcibly by the Executive Officer and the date 31-3-1997 was got scored and 22-3-1997 was mentioned. The Chairman also forced him to sign the Chart of bidders and the date was also changed from 31-3-1997 to 22-3- 1997.
(3.) THE learned Standing Counsel was also directed to obtain instructions and file counter-affidavit. The learned Standing Counsel placed before us the instructions received under the signatures of the Additional Commissioner, Faizabad Division Faizabad, in which the allegations made by the respondent No. 4 have been reasserted that in pursuance to the advertisement dated 17-3-1997 five tenders were obtained on 22-3-1997. It was mentioned that tender of the petitioner was got included fictitious ly after manipulating the documents and approval was given by the Chairman on 31-3-1997. An enquiry was got conducted through the District Magistrate, Gonda, on the complaint made by respondent No. 4 and after the correctness was revealed and on examination of the entire documents, the Commissioner, Faizabad Division, Faizabad by order dated 21-4-1997 directed for cancellation of the contract in favour of the petitioner. The report of the Up-Ziladhikari, Tulsipur which was submitted through the District Magistrate, Gonda was also placed before us. In the report, it has been stated that the documents have been prepared by fraud in connivance with the Chairman and disputed contract was as a result of forged and fictitious documents and fraudulent acts of the petitioner and the Chairman.;