Snowfall Agro Products Private Limited v. The State of Assam and 2 Ors

ORDER

10.05.2023

¶1Heard Mr. G. Rahul, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. N.C. Das, learned Senior Counsel for the respondent nos.2 & 3. Mr. R. Talukdar, learned counsel appears for the respondent no.1.

¶2The petitioner is aggrieved with the impugned letter dated 04.04.2023, wherein the petitioner's bid in the e-auction of the Fatemabad Tea Garden was accepted, but the entire sale transaction was not allowed to be completed, on the ground that the petitioner did not comply with the terms and conditions envisaged in Clause-XIV of the e-auction notice dated 06.12.2022.

¶3The case of the petitioner is that due to non-deposit of the Provident Fund of the employees of the said Tea Garden, the said Tea Garden was attached on Page No.# 3/4

05.12.2017 by the respondent no.3. Thereafter, in pursuant to an E-auction sale notice dated 06.12.2022 in respect of the Fatemabad Tea Garden, an auction was held on 14.03.2023. The petitioner was found to have tendered the highest bid amount in terms of the auction result published in the official website of the respondent no.3.

¶4The respondent no.3 thereafter issued a letter dated 15.03.2023 to the Director of the petitioner company stating that as the petitioner's quoted price was the highest in the e-auction, he was advised to deposit 25% of the quoted amount, i.e. Rs.4,16,29,250/-.

¶5The respondent no.3 thereafter wrote the impugned letter dated

04.04.2023 to the petitioner stating that on scrutiny of his bid and other relevant documents, it was found that the petitioner has failed to comply the terms and conditions envisaged in Clause-XIV of the e-auction notice and as such the bid of the petitioner was treated as cancelled on the aforesaid ground.

¶6The petitioner's counsel submits that the petitioner had however deposited the 25% of the quoted price in terms of the respondent no.3's earlier letter dated 15.03.2023 issued by the respondent no.3, vide three cheques dated

17.03.2023.

¶7The petitioner's counsel submits that the petitioner thereafter submitted a representation dated 08.04.2023 for recalling the impugned order dated

04.04.2023. However, no action has been taken by the respondent no.3 against Page No.# 4/4 the petitioner's representation.

¶8The petitioner's counsel submits that the writ petition can be disposed off, if a direction is issued to the respondent no.3 to take a decision on the petitioner's representation dated 08.04.2023, within a specified time period and until a decision is taken, the sale of the property in question should not be finalized with any other party.

¶9Mr. N.C. Das, learned Senior Counsel for the respondent nos.2 & 3 submits that he has got no objection to the prayer made by the petitioner's counsel.

¶10In view of the consent of the parties, the respondent no.3 is directed to examine and take a decision on the petitioner's representation dated 08.04.2023 within a period of 1 (one) month from today. Till a decision is taken by the respondent no.3, the respondent authorities should not finalize the auction sale of the Fatemabad Tea Garden in favour of any other party.

¶11The writ petition is accordingly disposed off.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010090112023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2340/2023o SNOWFALLoAGROoPRODUCTSoPRIVATEoLIMITEDo AoPRIVATEoLIMITEDoCOMPANYo REGISTEREDoUNDERoTHEoPROVISIONSoOFoCOMPANIESoACT,o1956,o ANDoHAVINGoITSoREGISTEREDoOFFICEoAToEKTAoFLORAL,oBLOCKo03,o FLOORo6TH,oFLAToNO.oD-27,oCHRISTOPHERoROAD,o KOLKATA-o700046oANDoCORPORATEoOFFICEoAToHOUSEoNO.o17,o GAYATRIKUNJ,oCHITRALEKHAoLANE,o SUPERMARKET,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781006,oASSAMo ANDoREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoAUTHORIZEDoREPRESENTATIVEoANDo MANAGER,oSRIoDEBASISHoCHAKRABORTY,o SONoOFoLATEoANILoCHAKRABORTY. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo2oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY,o DEPARTMENToOFoLABOURoWELFAREoANDoEMPLOYMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoSECRETARYoCUMoP.F.oCOMMISSIONER oBOARDoOFoTRUSTEES oNIDHIoBHAWAN o BASISTHA oLALMATI oN.H.-o37 o GUWAHATI-o781029 oKAMRUP(METRO) o ASSAM. Page No.# 2/4 3:THE RECOVERY OFFICER ASSAM TEA EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION NIDHI BHAWAN BASISTHA LALMATI N.H.- 37 GUWAHATI- 781029 KAMRUP(METRO) ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR G RAHUL Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA