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2018 Supreme(Jhk) 1825
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
Anil Kumar Choudhary, J.
Indian Oil Corporation Limited - Appellant
Versus
Nand Kishore Singh, son of Baliraj Singh - Respondent
F.A. No.929 of 2006
Decided On : 31-10-2018
Subject
Contract Law - Sale of Goods
Act Referred
Headnote
Indian Penal Code,1860 - Section 420 - Revenue Authority - Assistant Manager in Law Department - Defendant also placed certified copy order of Mutation passed in mutation proceeding started on petition of defendant and order of Circle Officer was passed which were ventilating that name of defendant was mutated vide order with respect to land of said consisting an area acres only and rent receipt with respect to said land was ordered to be issued in name of defendant - Defendant placed and produced said documents with an intention to make plaintiff Corporation believe that order mutation has been passed by Circle Officer Madison firming that defendant is rightful owner said property and name of defendant has been indexed in Revenue office Circle Officer– Held, Plaintiff Corporation should have cancelled sale deed by competent court of law is concerned once it is established that defendant was not having vendible title of land mentioned in sale deed obviously no title of any land has been transferred by execution sale deed by defendant to plaintiff-Corporation - In this backdrop plaintiff Corporation not making any prayer cancellation said sale deed certainly cannot be ground to deny relief of claim of refund consideration money and other expenses which indisputably defendant is liable to pay to plaintiff Corporation and part of which he has already paid without demur - Accordingly judgment and decree passed by Sub Judge Money Suit being not sustainable in law is set aside - So far as claim of plaintiff Corporation is concerned in absence of any contract for any right of interest claim of pen elite and future interest per annum appears to be excessive and plaintiff Corporation will be entitled to get interest per annum from date of filing suit - Accordingly suit plaintiff Corporation is decreed to aforesaid extent - Defendant is directed to pay along with pen elite and future interest simple interest per annum from date of filing of suit that is till date of payment within three months from date of this decree failing which plaintiff Corporation will be entitled to levy execution same as per law - Appeal allowed
For the Appellant :Mr. V. Shivnath, Sr. Advocate Mr. Amar Nath Gupta, Adv.
For the Respondent: Mr. Amit Kumar Sinha, Ms. Asmita Srivastava, Adv.
JUDGMENT :
Heard the parties.
2. The appellant-Corporation has preferred this appeal being aggrieved by the judgment and decree dated 25.07.2006 passed by the learned Sub-Judge- I, Hazaribagh, in Money Suit No.07 of 1997 by which the learned Sub-Judge- I, Hazaribagh has dismissed the suit on contest but without cost.
3. The case of the plaintiff in brief is that the plaintiff-Indian Oil Corporation is a body corporate constituted under the Indian Companies Act, 1956. The plaintiff-Corporation invited tender for the purchase of lands at village Kuju under Mandu Police Station within the District of Hazaribagh under the scheme and policy of the government for installing of oil pump. The defendant submitted tender and offered himself to transfer the land of Khata No.2/190, plot No.364/2946, tauzi No.28 consisting an area of 0.20 acres and also the land situated under Khata No.2, plot No.364 consisting an area of 0.12 acres situated at village Kuju, Loha Gate and projected and demonstrated himself as the absolute owner of the aforesaid land having right, title and possession thereof and also produced documents of title to show that the defendant by way of sale-deed, purchased the land situated under Khata No.2, plot No.364, thana No.154 consisting an area of 0.12 acres under registered sale-deed No.10602 on 14.08.1995 and the said land under Khata No.2/190, plot No.364/2946 consisting an area of 0.12 acres was settled by way of settlement by the State of Bihar vide settlement case No.55/88-89 and the paper of settlement with map issued by the Revenue Authority in the name of the defendant and led the plaintiff to believe that the defendant is the absolute owner of the said land. The defendant also placed the certified copy of the order of Mutation Case No.177/95-96 passed in mutation proceeding started on the petition of defendant and the order of Circle Officer, Mandu was passed which were ventilating that the name of the defendant was mutated vide order dated 25.08.1995 with respect to the land of said Khata No.2 consisting an area of 0.20 acres only and the rent receipt with respect to the said land was ordered to be issued in the name of the defendant. The defendant placed and produced the said documents with an intention to make the plaintiff-Corporation believe that the order of mutation has been passed by the Circle Officer, Mandu, confirming that the defendant is rightful owner of the said property and the name of the defendant has been indexed in the Revenue office of the Circle Officer, Mandu. The defendant also produced the certified copy of one Settlement Parcha for an area of 0.12 acres situated under Khata No.2, plot No.364 of village Kuju with map and government rent receipts to show that the said land was settled in his name by the State of Bihar and also projected and demonstrated before the plaintiff-Corporation that the defendant is the absolute owner of the land and had vendible right and title to transfer the land in favour of the plaintiff-Corporation. The plaintiff-Corporation believed in good faith on the basis of the said documents which were showing that the land is free from the area of Central Coalfields Limited and forest area. The plaintiff-Corporation, thereafter, desired to purchase the lands measuring an area of 0.23 acres on good faith and bonafide belief. The defendant offered to transfer the aforesaid land in favour of the plaintiff-Corporation for a total consideration amount of Rs.4,60,000/- as the documents produced by the defendant prima facie were sufficient for the plaintiff-Corporation to believe that the defendant is the owner of the suit land. Hence, the plaintiff-Corporation agreed to purchase the said land. The plaintiff-Corporation purchased Non-Judicial Stamp for execution and registration of sale deed and also paid required fee for execution and registration of the sale deed and the defendant agreed in writing that the cost of stamp purchased is Rs.67,850/- which has been purchased by
