JUDGMENT :

The petitioner impugns Ext.P12 letter issued by the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. (SUPPLYCO) to the fourth respondent – Branch Manager of the Federal Bank, seeking that a Bank Guarantee, which they are furnished at the time when they entered into a contract with them earlier, be encashed.

2. The petitioner asserts that, even though their contract was cancelled by the SUPPLYCO through Ext.P10, it does not order the forfeiture of the Bank Guarantee or the Earnest Money Deposit (EMD); and hence that Ext.P12 is illegal and unlawful.

3. Smt.K.P.Sreeja – learned counsel for the petitioner, reiterated that, even if Ext.P10 is closely read, it would render it indubitable that SUPPLYCO did not order the forfeiture of the Bank Guarantee or the EMD, while cancelling the contract; and therefore, that their action in issuing Ext.P12, without notice to her client, but directly to the Bank, can only be construed to be illegal and unlawful. She thus prayed that the reliefs sought for in this writ petition be granted.

4. Smt.Molly Jacob – learned standing counsel for the SUPPLYCO, however, submitted that it was not necessary for her client to have specifically stated in Ext.P1