S.S.Sandhawalia, J.

1. Whether Article 7 of Schedule I of the Bihar and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914, entitles the Collector to recover the agreed settlement amount from settles of a hat, bazar or mela in the absence of a duly executed registered lease deed, is the ticklish question requiring adjudication in this Full Bench. Directly on the issue is the contrary view of the Division Bench in S.A. Mannan V/s. State of Bihar (1958) I.L.R. 37 Pat. 302. followed later in Prabhunath Singh V/s. The State of Bihar 1980 B.B.C.J. 344.

2. The facts are not in serious dispute. On the 1st April, 1977, an open auction was held in the presence of Shri Awadhesh Prasad Singh, Deputy Collector Gaya, for the settlement of hat in Khizersarai for the year 1977-78. The petitioner along with others participated therein and deposited Rs. 600 as security money and the bid was knocked down in favour of the petitioner for Rs. 11,501 only as the highest bidder. It is the petitioners claim that he later deposited Rs. 5,400 with the Anchal Adhikari, though, admittedly, no receipt whatsoever was issued by him. It is then averred on behalf of the petitioner that neither any Parwana or any tol