( 1 ) THIS petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution has been filed challenging the recovery certificate Annexure F/1 whereby the respondents intended to recover Rs. 25920/- from the petitioner towards the alleged loss on account of resale of Tendu leaves of Forest unit No. 19-B. Morha and for refund to earnest money Rs. 5,000/ -.

( 2 ) THE facts are that in response to Tender Notice, published in M. P. Gazette dt 27-12-1978, inviting tender for sale of right of collection of Tendu leaves, among others, of unit No. 19-B Morha, forest division Rewa, the petitioner submitted a tender along with deposit of earnest money Rs. 5000/- on 19-1-1979 before Conservator of Forest, Jabalpur. The quantity of Tendu leaves was 1200 standard bags and the upset price was Rs. 108/-per beg. The petitioner on learning about general boycott by the prospective purchasers to persuade the government to bring down the prices, allegedly submitted an application (Ann. A) on 20-11-1979 to the Conservator of Forest withdrawing the tender, before it was opened. Meanwhile the last date for submission of tender was extended to 29th/30th Jan. 1979 by notification (Ann. B) and to 12th/13th Feb. , 1979