The court established the principle that the Board's resistance to refund the petitioners' deposits was unreasonable and unsustainable, and directed the refund of deposits with suitable interest and payment of litigation costs.

1. There is a single petitioner in each of these three writ petitions. All the three petitioners have a common grievance against the Bihar State Housing Board and they seek the same relief under the same set of facts and circumstances. Hence, these three writ petitions were heard together and are being disposed of by a common order.

2. On 23.2.1981 the Bihar State Housing Board (hereinafter referred to as the Board) issued a notice in the daily newspapers. In that notice the Board made certain announcements in connection with allotment of plot/flat at Digha and Sheikhpura in the town of Patna on hire-cum-purchase basis to persons registered with the Housing Department/Housing Board. In Clause 3 of the notice it was stated that suitable land (s) was being taken in acquisition and the acquisition and development of land and the completion of construction work on the developed land was likely to take four years. In Clause 4, the allottees were classified into four groups. The Middle income Group, with which we are concerned in these three writ petitions, comprised people with annua) income ranging from Rs. 7201 to Rs. 18,000/-. The notice further stipulated that for making an application for a flat in the Middle Income Group the applicant should pay a sum of Rs. 6,500/- as earnest money. It was further stated in that notice the prospectus and the application form could be obtained from the Boards office on payment of Rs. 50/- as registration fee and that the prospectus and the appiication would also be available to those who had got their demands registered earlier, on showing the payment receipt.

3. The petitioner in C.W.J.C. No. 1576 of 2001 had already paid a sum of Rs. 50/- for registration of demand on 11.2.1979; the petitioners in C.W.J.C. Nos. 1514 and 1523 of 2001 paid the registration fee of Rs. 50/- each on 9.5.1981 and on that basis the petitioners were supplied with the prospectus and the application forms.

4. In the Prospectus issued by the Board in the year 1981 the probable cost of building was shown as Rs. 50,000/- and the relevant extract from the prospectus is reproduced below:

Schedule KH (Part 1)

(Type & Cost of Dwelling Units)

Income Group Type Description Probable cost of

building only

MIG A Duplex type-2 storeyed ground

floor-2 rooms, front and rear

Verandah, Kitchen, toilet and

backyard. First Floor-2 rooms,

front Verandah, toilet and Terrace Rs. 50,000

5. Each of these three petitioners then deposited the earnest amount of Rs. 6, 500/-(Petitioners in C.W.J.C. Nos. 1514 and 1523 of 2001 on 26.5.1981 and petitioner in C.W.J.C. 1576 of 2001 on 27.5.1981) and submitted their application forms, duly filled up, and complete in all respects in the Boards office.

6. In 1983, the Board issued an important notice in which it was indicated that the construction of 900 dwelling units for the Middle Income Group was completed which would cover all applicants in that group.

7. Though this important notice was issued by the Board in the year 1983, for some inexplicable reason no further action was taken and the matter was allowed to rest at that stage and finally in December, 2000 letters were issued to the petitioners intimating them about the Boards decision to allot to each of them certain flats, copies of those letters which are dated 23.12.2000 are at Annexure-1 in each of the three writ petitions. By that letter the petitioner in C.W.J.C. No. 1514 of 2001 was intimated that on the basis of lottery a decision was taken to allot to her flat no. 7 MF-4-/29 at Bahadurpur, Patna. She was further asked to pay a sum of Rs. 1,59,391, being 30% of the disposal price of the flat, by January 31, 2001 so that a formal letter of allotment could be issued in her name. It is significant to note that the price of the flat was still not indicated with any finality in that letter.

8. Similarly petitioner in C.W.J.C. No. 1523 of 2001 was intimated about the decision to allot her Flat No. 3 MF-11/42 at Bahadurpur, Patna an