M.A. Construction & Trading Company Private Limited vs State Of West Bengal & Ors

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The petitioner, a private limited company, invoked the constitutional writ jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court seeking enforcement of rights arising from a concluded agreement to lease dated 22nd February, 2002 entered into with the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) in respect of approximately 7327.13 square metres of land situated at the junction of E.M. By-Pass and Satyen Bose Sarani, CIT Scheme VII-M (Ultadanga). The land had originally been leased by the Kolkata Improvement Trust to NBSTC for establishment of a modern bus terminus, but financial constraints led NBSTC to commercially exploit the property through a competitive tender process.

The petitioner emerged as the highest bidder in a fresh tender process initiated in 2001, offering Rs.24.81 crores, and was issued a letter of acceptance on 12th February, 2002. The agreement to lease was executed on 22nd February, 2002 following approval by the NBSTC Board and ratification by the Transport Department. Physical possession of the property was delivered to the petitioner on 17th April, 2002, and a registered Power of Attorney was subsequently executed in favour of the petitioner. The petitioner made substantial payments aggregating Rs.16,68,96,226/- and also tendered a pay order of Rs.2 crores towards the Kolkata Improvement Trust for issuance of a No Objection Certificate required for commercial utilization.

Despite substantial compliance with its contractual obligations, the petitioner's project remained stalled due to non-issuance of the requisite No Objection Certificate by the Kolkata Improvement Trust and non-sanction of the building plan by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The writ petitions seek to enforce the statutory and contractual obligations of the respondents to facilitate implementation of the lease agreement.

Catchwords: writ jurisdiction agreement to lease NBSTC commercial exploitation tender process No Objection Certificate building plan sanction Kolkata Improvement Trust Kolkata Municipal Corporation enforcement of contractual rights public sector undertaking lease premium possession certificate Power of Attorney