1. The petitioners had obtained the privilege for sale of arrack in five arrack shops of the Poonjar range for the year 1984-85 being the highest bidders at a public auction held in that behalf. The petitioners were joint bidders and the price at which the privilege was conferred on them was for Rs. 7,00,000/- payable in ten equal monthly instalments. The requisite licences were issued to the petitioners and they carried on the trade in arrack for the entire period. The conditions of the auction clearly specified the quantity of arrack to be supplied for each of the shops. There was also a clause empowering the Assistant Excise Commissioner to allot larger quantity of arrack over and above the stipulated quantity. It is the petitioners' case that for failure of the Department to supply the requisite quantity of arrack, they had not been able to carry on the trade profitably, they hod, in fact, sustained loss, and for that reason they are not liable to pay the balance amount due as per the terms of the agreements entered into on their bids having been accepted by the department. This contention is raised for the first time in this writ petition after the contracts had be