- (1.) In this writ petition the writ petitioner, the West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited (WBEIDC, for short) which is a Government of West Bengal Undertaking has challenged the order of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, West Bengal (Consumer Commission, for short) dated 29-12-97 by which the Consumer Commission directed the WBEIDC to execute and register lease deed in respect of plot No. Y-II in the Salt Lec Electronics Complex, Section V,Bidhannagar, Calcutta-91 within one month in favour of M/s. Silicon Valley Electronics Pvt. Ltd., the respondent No. 2 herein. The said order was passed by the Consumer Commission on a complaint filed by the complainant M/s. Silicon Valley Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (Silicon Valley, for short) represented by its Managing Director, Dr. Satyajit Chakraborty against the WBEIDC under s. 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
(2.) The case of the complainant Silicon Valley is stated hereafter : Dr. Satyajit Chakraborty the Managing Director of Silicon Valley is a Canadian citizen of Indian origin and is settled in Canada. The West Bengal Government invited the NRIs and impressed upon them the need to invest in West Bengal and meted out assurances that such investors in West Bengal would be given certain privileges which prima facie appeared to the complainant as an attractive package and the complainant started taking initiative to invest in West Bengal and at that time WBEIDC offered him a plot of land with various services and gave him a broachure wherein it was stated that WBEIDC would be allotting plots of land in Salt Lake City for promoting and developing Electronic Industry and Services. The complainant on approach was assured of a fully developed land with power connection, water supply and drainage outlet at the door-step of each plot and that the land would be available at 1/6th of the current market rate. The WBEIDC issued a letter of allotment dated 11-4-1988 in favour of Silicon Valley in respect of land measuring .2514 acre in plot No. Y-11 in Salt Lec Electronics Complex in Bidhannagar inter alia fixing the premium of Rs. 2,51,400/- for the allotted land and stipulating that the allottee was required to execute a lease deed for 99 years after payment of the said amount and thereafter the allottee and the WBEIDC would be called lessee and lessor respectively. The complainant paid the entire premium money of Rs. 2,51,400/- and informal possession of the plot was also delivered to the complainant on 11th August, 1988. The complainant applied to WBEIDC by letter dated 8-9-1990 for relayed registration of land and WBEIDC gave written permission for delayed registration by its letter dated 10-9-90. Another plot of neighbouring land being Y-12 was allotted in favour of Satyajit Engineering Works Pvt. Ltd. of which also Dr. Satyajit Chakraborty was the Managing Director. By a letter dated 23-4-93 B. Dasgupta, Executive Director of WBEIDC gave written permission to open a Post-graduate Institution of Management for imparting knowledge in computerised management, electronics and computer related subjects at plot No. Y-11 anc plot No. Y-12. In spite of repeated requests and reminders by the Silicon Valley to execute and register the lease deed in respect of plot No. Y-11 and the WBEIDC failed and neglected to register the lease deed and thereafter suddenly the WBEIDC by its letter dated the 17th July, 1995 cancelled the allotment of the plot No. Y-11. The Silicon Valley then moved the Consumer Commission. I have already noted that the Silicon Valley obtained the desired order from the Consumer Commission and thereafter the WBEIDC has filed the present writ petition challenging the said order of the Consumer Commission. That is stated above is the case of Silicon Valley.
(3.) The WBEIDC entered into a lease agreement with the Government of West Bengal for 999 years in respect of land measuring 8755621 acres in Sector V of Bidhannagar and the land was demised by the Government of West Bengal to the WBEIDC as lessee to enable the lessee to set up an Industrial Complex for Electronic Industries on certain terms and conditions mentioned in the lease agreement. The lessee WBEIDC was given the power to sub-divide or sublet the demised land or the building to be constructed for the purpose of setting up of different units of Electronic Industries, but such sub-division or subletting must be in conformity with the concerned master plan. It is in exercise of this power to sub-divide or sublet the demised land, the WBEIDC allotted plot No. Y-11 in favour of the Silicon Valley. It is the case of the writ petitioner, WBEIDC in the writ petition that after allotment of the industrial plot to Silicon Valley the allottee miserably failed to comply with the provision of clause (b) and that the WBEIDC tried their best to register the allotted plot of land in favour of Silicon Valley but the Silicon Valley did not come forward with clean hand for registration of the document and thereafter the writ petitioner under compelling circumstances cancelled the allotment of the plot No. Y-11 in terms of clause (f) of the conditions of the allotment letter. Clause (e) of the allotment letter as referred to above requires the lessee to take possession of the plot immediatelyafter the date of execution of the lease deed and the lessee was obligated under the said clause (e) to complete the construction of the factory building at his own expense within the three years from the date of the lease agreement, conforming to the rules and formalities of the concerned authorities and to the satisfaction of the lessor. Clause (f) of the conditions of the allotment letter provides that in the event of the failure of the lessee to complete construction of the factory building within the stipulated date, the lease deed will be liable to be revoked, etc. Clause (k) of the said conditions provides that the lessee shall not use or allow to be used the land and/or structure thereon for any purpose other than for setting up of Electronic Industries without the prior written permission of the lessor or other prescribed authority. The writ petitioner WBEIDC has however contended that the letters purportingly issued by B. Dasgupta, its Executive Director for the postpondment of the registration of the lease deed and for permission to run Post-graduate Institution of Management are all collusive documents and the said B. Dasgupta has since joined the Institution of the complainant. The question whether those documents were collusive documents is indeed question of facts which are not considered appropriate for inquiry in the writ petition. The fact remains that prima facie those letters issued by a competent authority on behalf of the WBEIDC exist. It is also to be noted that both the clause (e) and clause (f) of the conditions of allotment relief upon by the writ petitioner come into play after the lease deed is executed. Admittedly in the present case no formal lease deed has yet been executed or registered. Be that as it may, when the allottee has paid the entire premium money and is ready to get the lease deed executed and registered, the cancellation of the allotment of the plot, in the facts and circumstances projected, does not seem to be justified and that being so I find no reason to interfere with the impugned order of the consumer Commission. It is however needless to mention that the petitioner's right to cancel the allotment for a valid reason, if any, will remain unaffected and may be invoked if occasion so arises after the execution and registration of the lease deed as has been indicated in the impugned order of the Consumer Commission itself.;