Citizen dealing with public body not knowing limits of the authority of that body has justification to feel aggrieved.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Mrs.Prabha Sridevan, J.:

1. The State is the appellant in both the appeals. We will deal with Writ Appeal No.428 of 1999 which arises out of a show cause notice dated 13. 1998 first.

.2. In 1993, the Social Welfare Nutritious Meal Programme Department issued G.O.Ms.No.111 announcing the setting up of an Educational Complex for children in accordance with a scheme devised by the Government for the welfare of the young. The complex was to be called “Annai Santhya World” and the execution of the whole scheme was to be done by the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women ( Maham), the second respondent. The Government identified the site which was then under the possession of Coimbatore Medical College having been acquired by the Government in 1967 for establishment of the College. 25.19 acres were carved out of the lands in possession of the College for setting up of the Scheme. The Social Welfare Department was also permitted to enter upon the site. Initially, Maham was to have taken up the project and carried it out but it was felt that Maham did not have the wherewithal to run the project by itself. The social welfare Department decided to lease out a portion of the site to put up hotel/motel project to mobilize required funds. Tenders were called for. And the Department granted permission to lease out to three private parties (a) Kenil Worth for putting up a hotel (b) Jenneys Residency Pvt. Ltd., the first respondent for putting up Hotel/Shopping Complex/Country club and (3) JUMBO’S Park for putting up Educational Amusement Park. We are here concerned only with the first respondent (the writ petitioner) who was allotted 5 acres, out of the site, on lease for 33 years. The lease deed was also executed by Maham in favour of the petitioner.

3. Two Public Interest Litigations were filed, one challenging the transfer of the site for reasons other than establishment of Childrens Educational and Amusement Park, and the other challenging the G.Os. pursuant to which the land was transferred, on the ground, that the land earmarked as instructional zone was illegally converted to recreational zone. Both the writ petitions were dismissed by this Court and the writ appeals filed there against were also withdrawn. After that, in 1998, the impugned letter has been issued by the Social Welfare Department to the first respondent in which it was stated that the Social Welfare Department itself had not acquired the right to deal with the property, since the transfer in its favour was not complete and therefore, the leasing out was not appropriate and non-est in the eye of law. And therefore the first respondent was called upon to show cause why the lands that were leased should not be resumed by the Government.

4. Tothis, the first respondent sent a reply that the validity of the creation of an amusement park, the propriety of the Government in transferring the land from the Medical College to Social Welfare Department for the purpose of creating an amusement park had already been dealt with by this Court in the two Public Interest Litigation earlier referred to and therefore, the show cause notice itself amounted to contempt of court.

5. Thereafter the first respondent filed W.P.No.5109 of 1998 challenging the show cause notice, this was allowed on the ground the Government cannot take inconsistent stands and after filing an affidavit in the earlier Public Interest Litigation that the land had been transferred to Social Welfare Department, it ill behoved the Government to come forward with the statement that the Social Welfare Department had no right to deal with the property. The learned Judge was also of the opinion that the State would be bound by the Principles of Promissory Estoppel having handed over possession of the site and having allowed the petitioner to put up a huge superstructure. The show cause notice itself was, in the opinion of the learned Judge, issued only to