IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA LPA No.626 of 2008 KRISHNAJI PRASAD Versus THE STATE OF BIHAR & ORS ----------- For the appellant: Mr. Yogendra Prasad, Advocate For the respondent no.5 : Mr. Awadhesh Prasad Sinha, Advocate --- P R E S E N T Hon'ble the Chief Justice And Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kishore K. Mandal --- Dated, the 7th November, 2008 We heard the counsel for the appellant and considered the available material. Twenty eight shops were advertised for settlement by way auction by the Chief Executive Officer, Zila Parishad, Gopalganj vide advertisement dated 10th of January, 2008. There were three categories of shops to be auctioned. Sixteen shops of 12’ x 10’; eight shops 11’ x 9’ and four shops 12’ x 9’ were put up for auction. The reserved price of all the three categories of shops was fixed being Rs.99000/-, Rs.82,000/- and 90,000/- respectively. The auction took place on 19th March, 2008. For shop no.1, highest bid of Rs.3,35,000/- was received and for another shop being shop no.14, the highest bid of Rs.2,57,000/- was received. However, the highest bid given by the petitioner for shop no.18 was Rs. 87,000/-. Since there was huge difference in the bids received 2 for diverse shops, the authorities were of the view that it was due to connivance amongst the bidders. On the very next day i.e., 20th March, 2008, it was decided to cancel the entire bid process and return the security money. Neither the whole bid amount was deposited by the petitioner nor any formal agreement was entered into between the Zila Parishad and the petitioner. As a matter of fact, no binding contract came into existence between the Zila Parishad and the petitioner. 2. In this backdrop, cancellation of the entire process by the Zila Parishad cannot be said to be arbitrary nor can it be said to be actuated with extraneous consideration. 3. The single judge cannot be said to have committed any error in dismissing the writ petition. 4. Letters patent appeal does not deserve to be admitted. It is dismissed in limine. R .M. Lodha, CJ. Kishore K. Mandal, J. Neyaz/-