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Judgment
Najmi Waziri, J.
CM No. 9656/2013
The application has been filed by the Committee/GFIL, seeking the following reliefs:-
(i) to make an offer to the bidder M/s. SAS Properties, No. 105, Sector-6, Panchkula, on the lines of the order dated 14.06.2013 (Annexure AS) read with previous order dated 27.2.2013 (Annexure A-1);
(ii) If this offer is acceptable to the bidder M/s. SAS Properties, aforesaid, the Hon''ble High Court of Delhi is prayed that the order dated 11.8.2011 regarding confirmation of the sale may be modified accordingly.
or
If this offer is not acceptable to the bidder M/s. SAS Properties, aforesaid, the Hon ''ble High Court is prayed to order cancellation of the sale;
(iii) pass an order which it deems just and proper in the interest of justice.
The Committee submits that the occasion for seeking the aforesaid reliefs has arisen because certain lands which were not intended to be sold in the auction formed a part of the details of the property advertised, pursuant to which M/s. SAS Properties was confirmed as the highest bidder. The property known as ''Hotel & Resort at Village Billa, 10 km from Panchkula on Narain Garh State Highway, 1 km inside main road, District Panchkula (Haryana), Description: Incompletely constructed Tourist Resort, Amusement Park, Hotel (60 rooms Approx.), Lakes, Green Parks, Farm House, Golf Course (9 holes), Swimming Pool and Water Chute, Area Approx. 1398 Kanal and 3 Maria was advertised for sale by inviting sealed bids and after the sealed bids were received and opened, the property was put to sale by auction on 15.4.2011, on as-is, where-is-and whatever-there-is-basis. The sale was confirmed by an order of this Court dated 11th August, 2011 in CM No. 9340-41/2011.
The offer of sale as per the advertisement was for 1398 Kanal and 3 Marlas, however, at the time of drawing of certificate of sale, an inspection of the lands was conducted by the Committee and a site plan of the advertised and non-advertised lands was prepared. It was found that some portions of the buildings of an Engineering College and its hostel buildings and lands appurtenant thereto had been inadvertently included in the ''sale details'' purely on account of a clerical mistake, although, these lands were never intended to be part of the sale. In fact, the said lands measuring 21 Kanal 12 Maria being Khasra Nos. 52//2/2(1-8), 3(7-2), 8/1(3-10), 9/1/1(2-9) and 26(1-10); 46//21(0-16) and 52//1/1(0-13) and 2/1(4-4) (known as Farmhouse) was not included in the site plan of the parcel of land on which the Resort was constructed and advertised for sale.
It is further submitted by the counsel for the Committee, Mr. Harpawan Kumar Arora, that non-contiguous lands that were part of a College and were not part of the parcel of lands and property offered for sale through advertisement inadvertently found a way into ''the details of the property'' supplied to the bidder concerned. This anomaly was discovered and duly considered in the order of the Committee dated 27th February, 2013. The Committee listed the reasons why the lands mentioned in the details of the properties supplied to the bidder/respondent could not be sold. It reasoned that lands forming part of the Resort and in its vicinity had been clubbed into different parcels so as to make them more viable and attractive for sale. These marked as Part A, B and C. Certain parcels of the lands forming a portion of Part-C had inadvertently got included in the ''details'' which could not be sold. However, to complete the sale, the Committee offered 1403 Kanal 151/2 Marlas to the bidder and requested him to deposit Rs. 50,00,31,000/- plus Rs. 20,11,711/- towards the proportionate price for the excess area of 5 Kanal 21/2 Marlas. The bidder declined the offer and indicated that it would accept only certain lands as indicated by them in the letter dated 13th March, 2013. During the course of hearing, the learned counsel for the respondent bidder/company states that if the Committee is unable to effect sale of the entire lands which they got in the bid as per the details of property supplied to them, they would not like to proceed with the transaction and accordingly the monies paid towards sale consideration may be returned to them with interest thereon along with the cost of stamp duty paid for the aforesaid transaction. The learned counsel for the applicant submits that it is not possible for the Committee to sell those lands which were not intended to be sold nor formed part of the advertisement. All-the-more-so, because the lands which were advertised were about 1 km from the main road whereas certain portions of the land which erroneously got included in the "details of property" were merely 340 mtrs. from the road. Both formed different parcels of roads and would have to assessed separately. It is common knowledge and accepted market practice that lands are evaluated primarily on the basis of their location and distance from motorable roads and highways. The parcel of land which was offered in the bid as per the advertisement was assessed to have a reserved bid price of Rs. 50 crores. Those lands inadvertently got included in the "details of the properties" supplied to the bidder belonged to a different parcel of land which would be evaluated and sold off separately. If the best located parts of the other parcels of land are sold out or included in the present bid, it would adversely affect the valuation of the remainder lands of Part-C.
In these circumstances, since the offer of the Committee of 1403 Kanal is not acceptable and the bidder-M/s. SAS Properties desires to have its bid cancelled and monies paid by it returned to it, the application of the Committee is allowed to the extent that the sale confirmed vide order dated 11th August, 2011 is hereby cancelled. The Committee shall return the monies deposited by M/s. SAS Properties along with interest earned thereon within a period of four weeks from today. The bidder M/s. SAS Properties will apply for refund of the Stamp Duty with the Revenue Authorities in view of this order. It would always be open to the parties to approach this Court in the event of any difficulties in the working out of this order. The application is allowed in the aforesaid terms. No order as to costs.