GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. AND ANR.versusSTATE OF RAJASTHAN AND ORS.

A           GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. AND ANR.
                              v.
                 STATE OF RAJASTHAN AND ORS.

                             DECEMBER 19, 2003

B                  [R.C. LAHOTI AND ASHOK BHAN, JJ.]

         Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1976-Sections 6(1) read
  with section 15 and sections 20 and 38-Contract Act, 1872-Sections 18,
   19, 21, 22 and 56-Public auction-Property described as ji-ee hold,
C ceiling free and vacant with Floor Area Ratio (FAR) as 2.00-Company
  declared successful bidder, however payment delayed as per schedule-
  Payment along with interest on delayed payment and also registration
  charges and stamp duty paid-Execution of sale deed and possession
  delivered to Company-Application for sanction of building plans for
  construction-Meanwhile, FAR reduced to 1. 75 owing to change- in
D Bye laws-Building plans approved with FAR 1. 75-State issued notice to
  Company for holding land in excess of ceiling limits-Grant of exemption
  subject to condition that property would not be alienated without prior
  permission of the Government-Company fully knowing that FAR ap-
  proved as 1. 75 and property not ceiling free commencing construction
E activities and also re-submitting plans for approval of FAR as 2. 00-Writ
  Petition seeking declaratory reliefs that there was frustration or impossi-
   bility ofperformance of contract; and that FAR 1. 75 not applicable-Also
  claimed refund ofregistration charges, stamp duty and cost ofconstruction
   incurred with interest--On appeal Held: Company having known about the
F reduction of FAR from 2. 00 to 1. 75 and that the land was not ceiling free
   affirmed the contract by getting their plans approved with FAR 1. 75 and
  started construction activities as such they cannot annul and avoid a
   concluded contract and flX liability on the Government-There was no
  frustration or impossibility of performance of contract-When the Com-
G pany appliedfor approval ofbuilding plans, law in force at that time would
  apply--Doctrine ofpromissory estoppel is not available when any action
   is desired to be taken in contravention of the provisions of law-Jaipur
   Development Authority Act, 1982-Section 90-Rajasthan Municipalities
  Act, 1954-Section 298-Administrative Law.

H        Constitution of India, 1950-Articles 226 and 136-Petition
                                      1134
           GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE                    1135

"· involving disputed questions of fact in relation to completed contract of A
   sale ofland-Maintainability of-Held: Such petitions cannot be adequately
   adjudicated upon in exercise of writ jurisdiction-Filing of suit would be
   efficacious remedy-However, Supreme Court decided the dispute on
   merits on account of lapse of time.
                                                                            B
        Respondent-State carried out public auction of a property de-
  scribing it as free-hold, ceiling free, vacant property with Floor Area
  Ratio (FAR) as 2.00 provided by 1989 Bye-laws. Appellant-Company
  was declared successful bidder. Appellants delayed the payment as per
  the schedule and later made the payment along with interest for
  delayed payment and also paid registration charges and stamp duty. C
  Thereafter, sale deed was executed and it was repeated that FAR would
  be 2.00. Appellants were then delivered possession. Thereafter, appel-
  lants applied for sanction of plans for constructing the property as per
  FAR 2.00 and deposited under protest the map approval charges
  demanded. Meanwhile, Municipal Corporation revised its bye~laws D
  and by 1996 Regulation FAR was reduced to 1.75. Municipal Corpo-
  ration approved the plans as per FAR 1.75 and immediately appellants
  commenced construction activities with the belief that the remaining
  FAR would be approved. Competent Authority issued· notice to the
  appellants under section 38 of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, E
  1976 alleging that the appellants were holding land in excess of the
  ceiling limits and had not filed the return. Appellants submitted that
  as the property had been sold ceiling free there was no need tt; file
  return and as such applied for exemption. Appellant was granted
  exemption from ceiling subject to the conditions that para-meters of F
  Municipal Corporation regarding construction would be applicable
  and that the property would not be alienated without prior permission
  of the State Government. Appellants re-submitted the plans for
  approval of FAR as 2.00 or to refund the proportionate amount
  consequent upon the reduction in FAR.
                                                                            G
       Aggrieved appellants then filed writ petition seeking reliefs that
  declaration be passed to the effect that the contract of sale of property
  has become impossible <'f performance as the FAR 2.00 as mentioned
  in the sale-deed is reduced to FAR 1.75; that the Regulations of 1996
  were not applicable; and that the stamp duty and registration charges H
    1136               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A be refunded. Respondents raised .preliminary objections that the
    declaratory reliefs claimed could not be granted in the writ jurisdic-
    tion. Single Judge rejected the preliminary objections and held that the
    auction sale and sale deed were null and void and the contract was
    frustrated and as such all consequent actions taken by either of the
B   parties were invalidated and appellants were entitled to be restituted
    to the original position as it existed prior to the auction and execution
    of sale deed and respondents were directed to refund all the payments
    received by appellants. Division Bench held that it was a completed
    contract involving highly disputed questions of fact which could not be
C   adjudicated upon by High Court in exercise of its writ jurisdiction and
    set aside the order of Single Judge leaving it open to the appellants to
    seek their remedy in the Civil Court. Hence the present appeals.

          Appellants contended that there is no absolute bar to the
    maintainability of the writ petition under Article 226 in contractual
D matters; that the appellants purchased the property on. a representa-.
    tion made by the respondents that the FAR was 2.00 and that the
    property was free hold and ceiling free; that the appellants were
   ,persuaded to make high bid on this representation that the land was
  , ceiling free amounted to misrepresentation under section 18 of the
E Contract Act and the contract became voidable at the option of the
    a°'ppellants under Section 19; that the contract was frustrated and
    incapable of being performed in terms of Section 56; that the appel-
    lants have invested huge sums of money after borrowing from the Bank
    at high rates of interest without any return for the last so many years;
    that in the conveyance deed FAR was again mentioned as 2;0 and at
F the stage there was clear misrepresentation; that the right to avoid
    contract or rescind the contract can be waived but there is no principle
    of law which requires the exercise of the right of repudiation of the
    contract to be done immediately on coming to know about the
    misrepresentation or breach of contract; that it was open to the
G aggrieved party to persuade the defaulting party to rectify the situation
    and to wait till the defaulting party refuses to rectify its default before
    exercising its right of repudiation of the contract; that a contract or
    other transaction foduced or tainted by fraud is not void, but only
    voidable at the opinion of the parties defrauded, unless it is avoided,
H the transaction is valid; that because of the very strict condition
         GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE                     1137

contained in the terms of auction, appellants inspite of having knocked A
the doors of the court had to start with the construction otherwise they
ran the risk of their right to the property being forfeited; that the
condition imposed by the exemption order that the plot would not be
transferred without prior approval of the State Government were
contrary to the representation contained in the auction notice that the B
properfy was freehold; that the appellants could avoid the transaction
at any time; that the State Government has the complete control over
the Development Authority and could direct it to adhere to FAR 2.0
as against FAR 1.75 provided under the 1996 Regulations; and that
Government had the power to cancel or modify the Bye-laws framed
by the Board and failure to do SO· reflects that the Government did not    c
intend to stick to the representation made by it in the auction notice
or sale deed.

      Respondents contended that contractual disputes can be raised in
proceedings under Article 226 is misconceived; that the points involved D
in the writ petition are highly disputed questions of fact which cannot
be decided without taking evidence and therefore, the order of the
Division Bench was right; that the date on which auction went in
favour of appellants there was no misrepresentation since the FAR on
that date was 2.0; that the FAR was changed by virtue of change in E
\aw, which could not have been envisaged at the time the contract was
entered into; that the contract was frustrated and incapable of being
performed is misconceived as Section 56 does not apply to the ;ases
of completed transfer; that the delay in the execution of the conveyance
deed was pre-dominantly on account of causes attributable to the
appellants; that the appellants executed and accepted the conveyance F
even after the reduction of the FAR voluntarily and having raised
construction clearly declared their intention to proceed with the
contract; that having declared their intention to proceed with the
contract the appellanl:s were bound by their affirmation; that the
appellants having failed to rescind the contract immediately on coming G
to know of the breach or misrepresentation by the Government, it
could not exercise their right of rescinding the contract or avoiding it;
that the stand of the State has always been that it is not going to enforce
any of the conditions stated in the exemption order and as on today
also the staPd is the same which is admitted by appellants.                 H
    1138               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A          Dismissing the appeals, the Court

         HELD : 1.1. The petition involving disputed questions of fact in
   relation to a completed contract of sale of land cannot be adequately
   adjudicated upon in exercise of writ jurisdiction, but, despite holding
  .the same in the exercise ofpowe~ under Article 136 of the Constitution,
B appeal cannot be dismissed on this account at this stage because that
   is likely to result in the miscarriage of justice on account of lapse of
   time which may now result in the foreclosure of all other remedies
   which could be availed of by the appellants in the ordinary course. At
   the present stage the alternative remedy of filing the suit would not be
C efficacious. Keeping in view the peculiar facts and the fact that it will
   not be a sound exercise of judicial discretion to relegate the petitioners
   to take recourse to the remedy of civil suit belatedly at the present
   stage, the dispute is examined on merits. (1152-E-G; 1153-E-F)

D        Kera/a State Electricity Board & Anr. v. Kurien E. Kalathil & Ors.,
    [2000] 6 sec 293, referred to.

        2.1. Every contract including one by auction is subject to provi-
  sions of law. Whenever any action is taken in performance. of a
  contract, it must conform to the law in force at the tlme when action
E is taken. In the instant case, when the appellants applied for approval
  of building plans it is the law in force at that time which would be
  applicable. Doctrine of promissory estoppel is not available when any
  action is desired to be taken in contravention of the provisions of law.
  The terms and conditions of the sale as announced were in accordance
F with law and no guarantee was given nor could have been given ·that
  the law would not change, or that the terms and conditions would be
  enforceable even in violation of law which may be in force. FAR was
  a matter of law and was fixed either by the Development Authority or
  the Municipal Corporation in exercise of its statutory powers. When
  the contract was entered into, FAR approved was 2.00 and its
G subsequent reduction in 1996 to 1.75 would not invalidate contract or
  be treated as a breach of the contract. (1164-C-E]

         2.2. Appellants are not entitled to any relief in the realm of the
    law of contracts. In spite of having acquired knowledge of the true facts
H   assuming that there was any mistake or misrepresentation to begin
         GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STA TE                  1139

with and having learnt that the title which was sought to be conferred A
on them by the respondents was not such full title as they had
contemplated it to be, they proceeded to have the sale deed executed
and registered in their favour, seeking extensions of time and paying
interest for the period of delay in payment. The contract stood
accomplished into a demise and the transaction ended. It is writ l~rge B
that the appellants had elected to stand by the contract by digging the
land, sinking the basement and raising about 9 floors above, investing
crores of rupees. They have by their own conduct rendered the position
irreversible and restitution impractical. No authority or law is shown
based whereon the appellants may annul and avoid a concluded
contract and fix liability on respondents for the cost of their construe- C
tion which may have voluntarily chosen to raise in spite of being aware
of all the relevant facts and circumstances. As such frustration of
contract or impossibility of performance of the contract is not made
out. (1169-B-D]
                                                                         D
     2.3. As per the terms and condition of the auction notice failure
to deposit the amount as stipulated could result in forfeiture of the
amount already deposited by the successful bidder and result in
cancellation of the bid. Appellants did not deposit the amount as per
the schedule of payment. The delay in the execution of the conveyance E
was principally attributable to the appellants. Had the appellants made
the payments as per schedule of the payment given in the auction notice
and submitted the requisite stamp duty the conveyance deed would
have been executed prior to the amendment in law. Further, the
appellants despite having the knowledge of the reduction of FAR F
requested the respondent to execute the conveyance deed as such the
plea of misrepresentation or mistake on account of change of FAR is
not made out on the admitted facts. (1156·:-A-B; 1156-D-G]

    · 2.4. The appellant's pleadings of misrepresentation and mistake in
the alternative, in the facts and circumstances of the case are mutually G
destructive. Under section 21 a contract is not voidable because it was
caused by a mistake as to any law in force in India. Appellants cannot
rely on the pleading of mistake on their part or misrepresentation on the
part of the respondents as to the applicability of Urban Ceiling Law and
FAR as provided by .the bye-laws, both being the laws in force in India. H
    1140               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A The vitiating effect of alleged mistake shall stand obliterated no sooner
    it is found that the appellants have, in spite of the so-called mistake being
    discovered, yet, chosen to stand by the contract, ratifying the same by
    their conduct and went ahead to exercise the rights which accrued to
    them under the same contract which they are pleading to be vitiated by
B   the mistake. [1159-G-H; 1160-A-BI

          2.5. The submission that in the conveyance deed the FAR was
    again mentioned as 2.0 and at that stage there was a clear misrepre-
    sentation by respondent cannot be accepted. Assuming that there was
    some misrepresentation the appellants had a couple of remedies, i.e.,
C   to either rescind the contract or seek restitution or to affirm the
    contract without prejudice to their right to seek damages by way of
    restriction for the loss caused by the misrepresentation. Appellants
    affirmed the contract which is clear from the fact that they immedi-
    ately commenced construction on the land even though the building
D   plans were on FAR 1.75. Affirmation of the contract and proceeding
    with the construction clearly indicates that the appellants did not
    rescind the contract nor reserved their right to seek restitution by
    award of damages or seek restitution. [1156-G-H; 1157-A-D]

E      2.6. At the time of initiating the legal proceedings in the Court,
  it was open to the appellants to either affirm the contract without
  prejudice to their right seeking damages by way of restitution for loss
  caused by alleged misrepresentation or to rescind the contract by
  getting the declaration that the contract was not binding on the
F appellants. Appellants elected the first option. Had they rescinded the
  contract and prayed for declaration that the contract was not binding
  on them, then, on its being so declared, terms of the auction notice
  would not have bound the appellants in any way and the Court while
  granting the relief could have moulded the relief according to facts and
  situation prevalent. Appellants cannot be permitted to sit on the fence
G in indecision and take a chance. By putting up the construction the
  appellants have encumbered the property and the respondent cannot
  be fastened with the liability to pay for the construction put up by-
  appellants with full knowledge of true facts. (1157-G-H; 1158-A-C)

H          2.7. The Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1976 itself has
         GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE                 1141

been repealed by the Notification of 7.10.1999. With the repeal of the A
Ceiling Act, all proceedings under the Ceiling Act have abated.
                                                           [1163-A-B]

    Pandit Madan Swaroop Shrotiya Public Charitable Trust v. State of
UP. & Others, [2000) 6 SCC 325, referred to.
                                                                        B
     2.8. The process for obtaining exemption from land ceiling did
not in a~y manner affect the appellants as their plans were sanctioned
even before the question was raised as to the application of the Ceiling
Act to the prop.erty. Also the State Government has stated that it is
not going to enforce the conditions imposed under the exemption C
order. Immediately upon the sanction of building plans the process of
construction began which clearly implies that the appellants had never
intention of transferring the land as plots and therefore the condition
inhibiting the transfer of plots was irrelevant so far as the appellants
are concerned. Thus, the conditions imposed in the exemption order D
were not an impediment in any manner. [1162-G; 1163-D-E]

      Sikkim Subba Associates v. State of Sikkim, (2001) 5 SCC 629;
Mis Motilal Padampat Sugar Mills Co. Ltd. v. State of UP. & Others,
(1979) 2 SCC 409 and Ningawwa v. Byrappa & Ors., (1968) 2 SCR 797,
distinguished.                                                      E
     H V. Rajan v. C.N Gopal and Ors., AIR (1975) SC 261, relied on.

     Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur and Co. and Anr., [1954)
SCR 310; Mis. Alopi Parshad and Sons Ltd. v. Union of India, [1960) 2
SCR 793 and Raja Dhruv Dev Chand v. Harmohinder Singh & Anr.,           F
[1968) 3 SCR 339, referred to.

     Indian Contract and Specific Relief Acts by Pollock and Mui/a
Eleventh Edition, Volume I, pp. 269-270 and Chitty on Contracts
Volume I, Twenty-Eighth Edition 1999 para 25-003, referred to.
                                                                        G
     3. The power conferred by Section 90 of the Jaipur Development
Authority Act, 1982 cannot be exercised by the Government to give
directions to increase FAR in one individual or particular case. Policy
and guidelines can be issued for general application or for a class of
persons or area or based on some such other criteria as may withstand H
    1142               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A the test of Article 14 of the Consti.tution. As such the appellants cannot
    claim a right to get exemption from the prevalent law nor heard to say
    that since the Government had the power to give direction, its failure
    to exercise the power of issuing direction, it has perpetuated the breach
    of contract. [1170-B-CJ
B         4. Under section 298 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959
    general power is given to the Government that in case the Government
    feels that the bye-laws framed or the orders issued are not reasonable
    or are detrimental to the public interest or there is any other good
    ground available, then, it can repeal the bye-laws wholly or in part or
C   modify any rule or bye-law made by the Board after inviting objec-
    tions. The power could not have bP.en exercised to suit the needs of an
    individual case. [1170-G-H; 1171-A-B]

         CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5188 of
D   2001.

         From the Judgment and Order dated 9..5.2001 of the Rajasthan High
    Court in D.B.C.S.A. (W) No. 895 of 1999.

                                      WITH
E
           C.A. Nos. 5189 and 5190 of 2001.

         Shanti Bhushan, Dr. Abhishek M. Singhvi, M.R. Calla, Harish N.
    Salve, Sunil Kumar Jain, S. Borthakur, Kamal Gupta, S.M. Mehta, Adv.
F   General for State, Ms. Sandhya Goswami, J.B. Singh, Ms. Meenakshi
    Sakhardande, Ms. Aparajita Singh, Pradeep Agarwal, Dr. P.C. Jain, A.P.
    Dhamija, L.P. Singh, Punit Jain, Sushil Kumar Jain, Manish Singhvi and
    Ashok K. Mahajan for the appearing ·parties.

           The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G
           BHAN~ J. : Aggrieved by the judgment and order of the Division
    Bench of Rajasthan at Jaipur in setting side the order of the Single Judge,
    thereby, dismissing the writ petition filed by the appellants, the present
    appeals have been filed. All the three appeals have been filed by the same
H   set of appellants and against the same judgment. As three separate appeals
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]               l 143

were filed by the respondents before the Division Bench against the order A
of the Single Judge the appellants have filed three separate appeals. They
are taken up for disposal by a common order.

       The State of Rajasthan (hereinafter referred to as "the Respondent
No. l ") decided to dispose of by public auction two prime properties B
situated in the heart of Jaipur City. One of the properties was known as
Dr. Helligs Bungalow, near Khasa Kothi State Hotel, M.I. Road, Jaipur and
the other was a plot of land situated near Khasa Kothi known as the site
of Food Craft Institute building on M.I. Road, Jaipur. In the present case
we are concerned with the first property only. Respondent No. I issued
advertisement for auction of Dr. Helligs Bungalow, which was scheduled C
to be held, according to the auction notification on 21.12.1994. In the
advertisement the property was described as free hold, ceiling free, vacant,
crest j·ewel property known as Dr. Helligs Bungalow (10,400 sq. yards).
The permitted use of the property was shown as hotel/commercial com-
p\ex/hote\ cum-commercial complex. The terms and conditions for the D
auction were also provided in the advertisement. Condition Nos. 7, 8, 9,
 l 0, 12 and .13 relate to the controversies involved in this litigation and are
reproduced hereunder:

         "7. Land measuring 1,400 sq. mtr. •hall be auctioned with the          E
         condition that the successful bidder shall have to surrender a strip
         of land measuring 6.2 sq. mtr. for the road widening/parking of
         commercial vehicle free of charges. He will be given the benefit
         in terms of FAR, which is calculated on the basis of original plot
         size.
                                                                                F
         8. Other parameters of this plot size have been approved by JDA
         and are given as under:

         Coverage                     62.5% F.A.R.

         F.A.R.                       2.0                                       G

         No of floors                B+G+4

         Maximum permissible          16.76 Mtrs.
         Height                                                                 H
    1144               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A          Parking provision           IPCU per 200 sq. mtr. of built up area

           Set backs

           Front towards                15 mtrs. Station Front to'.vards roads.

B          Front towards               15 mtrs. Circuit House 7.5 mtr.
                                       At<!l Ban (After leaving 6.2 Mtrs.
                                       for future road widening/parking
                                       commercial vehicle.

c          Rear                        6 Mtrs. as indicated in the plan.

           9. The construction work on the plot should be commenced with
           in one year from the date of handing over of possession of the
           land and the building. Building construction should be done
           within 3 years. If the party wants further extension beyond three
D          years that shall be given against the penalty of Rs. 20,000 (Rupees
           twenty thousand) p.m. but in no case the period shall be extended
           more than 2 years.

           l 0. After the full atnount due against the plot as deposited by the
E          purchaser the Patta of the plot will be issued in favour of the
           purchaser which would enable him to start construction on the plot
           in accordance to the approved plan and under architectural control
           as per specifications given by JDA.

F          12. The land shall be used for construction of Hotel/Commercial
           Complex/Hotel cum commercial complex only. If he uses this
           property for other than this purpose, he would have to seek prior
           permission from the Government ofRajasthan against payment of
           charges as the Government may fix thereof.

G          13. The purchaser shall have to strictly abide by the parameters
           and set backs as laid down in condition No. 8. Any violation of
           these terms and conditions shall lead to the forfeiture of his right
           on this prope1ty and hence the property shall stand reverted to the
           Government without payment of any compensation for the land
H          and the building thereupon."
      GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]               1145

     Mis Ganga Retreat and Towers Ltd., a company registered under the A
Indian Companies Act, 1956 (formerly known as Mis Lok Hotels and
Resorts Limited), the appellants herein were declared as the successful
bidder in the auction held. The appellants' bid of Rs. 19,56,76,000 being
the highest was accepted and the property was knocked down in their
favour. The successful bidder, as per term No. 5, was required to pay the B
sale consideration, as per the following schedule:-

        "(i) 10% of the final bi\i on the spot in cash or through Demand
             Draft in favour of Director of Estate, Rajsthan, Jaipur (the
             amount of Rs. 20.00 lacs deposited as earnest money shall
             be allowed to be adjusted against this deposit of 10%).      C
        (ii)   15% amount of the final bid will have to be deposited within
               15. days from the date of acceptance, letter sent to the
               successful bidder by the Government of Rajathan.

        (iii) 75% amount of the final bid will have to be deposited by D
              successful bidder within 60 days of the notice for deposition
              of the full and final amount of the bid amount which the
              party shall be informed by the Government of Rajasthan.

        Failure to deposit the aforesaid amount at any stage, i.e., (i), (ii) E
        and (iii) above will result in forfeiture of the amount already
        deposited by the successful bidder and hence cancellation of the
        bid."

      The payment was not made as per schedule given above. The entire
sale consideration amounting to Rs. 19,56,76,000 was paid on 16.5.1995. F
As there was a delay in making the payment as per schedule the appellants
accepted their liability to pay interest for the delayec' payment. A sum of
Rs. 30,01,273 towards interest for delayed payment was made. Last
instalment of Rs. 83,562.72 P. towards the amount of interest was paid by
demand draft dated 21.08.1995. Total amount paid was Rs. 19,86,77,273. G
The cost and expenses for registration of patta, stamp duty and all other
incidental expenses were also to be borne by the purchaser. Sale deed
could not be executed in favour of the appellants as the appellants did not
furnish the stamp papers. After repeated letters including the letter dated
21.05.1996 the appellants submitted the requisite stamp duty and registra- H
                                                                                       •,
                                                                                       ..t
    1146                SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.                        '
A tion charges amounting to Rs. I, 19,25,720 for execution of the sale deed
    on 18.12.1996. Thereafter, the sale deed was executed and registered on
    7.01.1997 and immediately thereafter possession was delivered to the
    appellants. Term of the auction notice that Floor Area Ratio (for short
    "FAR") would be 2.00 was also repeated in the sale deed.
B
          The appellants thereafter applied for S<'.nction of plans for putting up
    construction on the property and the Planning Cell of the Jaipur Municipal
    Corporation (for short "the JMC") demanded a deposit of Rs. 1,48,79,887
    towards map approval charges. These charges were deposited under
    protest by the appellants. According to the appellants the JMC had not
c   framed any Rules in this regard and that the charges were exorbitant an_d        r
    without authority oflaw. The appellants also handed over 6.2 meters width
                                                                                     \5.
    of strip land to the JMC of old Dr. Helligs bungalow as per their letter dated
    2.5.1997 (Annexure IV).

D         On 11.4.1997, the Additional Director and Competent authority
    under the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1976 (for short "the
    Ceiling Act") issued a notice to the appellants under Section 38 of the
    Ceiling Act, alleging that the appellants were holding land in excess of
    ceiling limits and had not filed the return as required under Section 6(1)
E   read with Section 15 of the Act. The appellants replied to the aforesaid
    notke on 17.4.1997 pointing out that the Respondent No. 1 had sold the
    property as free from ceiling limit and therefore, there was no need to file
    a return. As the explanation was not accepted by the competent authority,
    the appellants applied for exemption under Section 20 of the Act. The
F   appellants also submitted the return in the prescribed form with a covering
    letter dated 19.4.1997. On 3.5.1997 the Competent Authority issued a
    notice under Section 8(3) of the Ceiling Act enclosing a draft statement
    as to vacant land. Simultaneously, application filed under Section 20 of
    the Act for exemption was processed. On 11.8.1997, the competent
    authority granted exemption to the appellants on certain conditions. It was
G   stipulated that the exemption was being granted subject to the terms and
    conditions stated in the conveyance deed dated 7.1.1997 and that it could
    be used only for the purposes set out in the conveyance deed. It was also
    stipulated that for any construction on the land, plans will have to be
    submitted for sanction to the JMC and all the standards regarding
H   construction shall be applicable as per the norms of the JMC. Another
      GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]                  1147

corldition put was .that the land would not be transferred or conveyed in A
any manner to ;my one without prior permission of the State Government
except offering it as security to the financial institutions for raising loan.
As this clause has given rise to the controversy on which lengthy arguments ,
have been addressed, the same is reproduced below for reference:

        "5) That the sale, gift or any transfer of the plot will not be closed
                                                                                 B
        without prior approval of the State Government. But mo1igaging
        the property to financial institution for taking loan without parting
        with the possession the State Government will have no objection."

        On 24.6.1996 the Jaipur Development Authority (for short "the C
JOA") revised its bye-laws. The revised building Bye-laws came into force
w.e.f. 24.6.1996 in which parameters in respect of commercial hotels and
commercial plots were amended. Vide Regulation No. 9.3.3 of the 1996
Regulations the FAR was reduced to 1. 75 instead of 2.00 as provided by
the Bye-laws of 1989.                                                     D
      Appellants submitted their building plans as per FAR 2.00. JMC on
22.2.1997 approved the building plans subject to FAR l.75 only as per
1996 Bye-laws as against FAR 2.0 permitted by the auction notice and the
conveyance deed. On 10.10.97, after getting the land exempted from
ceiling, the Co1npany wrote to the JMC to re-examine the case and allow          E
FAR "2.0 on the appellants' re-submitting the plans for approval or in the
alternative to advise the General Administration Depatiment to refund the
proportionate amount consequent upon the reduction in the FAR.

      On 28.10.1997, the appellants wrote a letter to the Minister for Urban F
Development, Government of Rajas~han, for intervening in the ap,pellants'
favour in their dispute with the JMC which was not allowing FAR 2.0 as
promised in the terms of auction and the sale deed. Appellants also wrote
a letter to the Chief Minister on 17. l l .1997 for intervention in the matter
and for ordering the Secretary, Urban Development and Housing to clear G
the plans with FAR 2.0 as a special case urgently. On 18.12.1997 again,
a communication was addressed by the appellants to the Chief Secretary
giving the following three proposals:

         "(A) to instruct Jaipur Nagar Nigam to allow F.A.R. 2 as per
         Auction conditions. As F.A.R. 2 existed before the new Bye-laws H
    1148               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A            came into force in September, 1996. Plus to pay interest at 18%
             p.a. for delayed period to clear our plans as compensation. The
             delayed period may be calculated from the day we deposited our
             plans for approval to the day the plans are approved. We have
             paid interest on account of delay from our side.
B            (B) To refund the whole amount with interest, the registration
             cost, the maps approval charges, the L.B.T. charges etc.

             (C) To refund proportionate charges on all above for the reduced
             F.A.R. from 2 to 1.75 i.e. 12.5% all above charges."
c
         It was also stated in this letter that if no response was received to the
    proposals in writing within fifteen days, the appellants shall go to the court
    oflaw for redressal of their grievances. On 22.10.1997 the Chief Secretary
    wrote to the Urban Development and Housing Department recommending
D   the case of the appellants for grant of FAR 2.0 instead of FAR 1.75 in
    compliance with the conditions of the auction. As no decision was taken,
    the appellants filed S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 195/98 against the State
    ofRajasthan, Jaipur Development Authority, Jaipur Municipal Corporation
    amongst others, who were officers of the State Government, claiming the
    following reliefs.
E
             "In the premises aforesaid the writ petition of the petitioner may
             kindly be allowed with costs and by an appropriate writ, order or
             direction, the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to:

             (a)   declare that on account of the reasons set out herein and the
F
                   order dated 9th September, 1997 passed by the Municipal
                   Corporation, referring to approve maps upto 2.0 FAR the
                   contract of sale of the property described in this petition vi de
                   sale deed dated 7th Jan., 1997 stands frustrated or has
                   become i~possible of performance or invalid rendering the
G                  sale deed dated 7th Jan., 1997 void.

             (b)   declare that the Regulations of 1996 were not applicable to
                   the petitioner and the same cannot be enforced against the
                   petitioner by the Municipal Corporation, Jaipur or JDA in
H                  view of the sale deed dated 7th Jan., 1997.
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]               1149

         (c)   declare that the sale deed being a government grant was not A
               required to be registered and no stamp duty was required to
               be paid and consequently the petitioner is entitled to the
               refund of the stamp duty and the registration charges.

         (d)   direct the respondents jointly and severally to pay to the B
               petitioner a sum of Rs. 5102.94 lakhs alongwith future
               interest @ 18.5% per annum.

         Any other appropriate writ order or direction which may be
         considered just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the C
         case may kindly also be issued in favour of the Petitioners."

      On issuance of notice the respondents put in appearance and. filed
their replies. Apart from contesting on merits, preliminary objections were
raised regarding maintainability of the petition on the ground that declara-
tory relief claimed could not be granted in the writ jurisdiction. It was also D
contended that the reliefs claimed pertained to the concluded contract with
regard to the sale of property culminated by execution of the sale deed.
That the relief being claimed was based on breach of contract and the writ
petition was not the appropriate remedy for redressal of such grievances.
No petition could be entertained for either specifically enforcing the E
contract or/and for compensation for breach of contract. That the highly
disputed questions of fact were involved which could not be adjudicated
without adducing evidence. Such disputed questions of fact could not be
adjudicated by the High Court in exercise of its extra-ordinary jurisdiction
under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
                                                                              F
      Learned Single Judge rejected the preliminary objections regarding
the maintainability of the petition and declared that the sale deed was
statutory in nature. It was a grant as well. The rights and the obligations
as incorporated in the sale deed were statutory in character as regards the
rights and obligation of the parties. No change could be effected thereafter G
on any pretext whatsoever in regard to the reducing the FAR from 2.0 to
1.75. In the auction notice property was described as free hold and ceiling
free. The action of the State in not acting upon the assurance given
amounted to a fraud, which invalidated the sale. Consequently, the learned
Single Judge declared that the auction sale held on 21.12.1994 and the H
    1150               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A   consequent sale deed dated 7. l .1997 were null and void having no legal
    sanctity. The contract was frustrated. All consequent actions taken by
    either of the parties pursu!lnt to the auction and the sale deed were
    invalidated and the appellants were declared entitled to be restituted to the
    original position as it existed prior to the date of auction and execution of
B   the sale deed. Consequently, the respondents were directed to refund to
    the appellants, the payments recei"ed by the respective respondents,
    pursuant to any term of the auction dated 21.12.1994 which included the
    entire sale considerations as mentioned in the sale deed dated 7 .1.1997
    along with all other payments made to the respondents by the appellants
    towards stamp duty, registration charges, land and building taxes etc. with
C   interest @ 18% per annum calculated from the date of receipt of such
    amount by the respective respondents till the date of actl!al refund to the
    appellants. It was also directed that the .JMC shall refund all payments
    made by the appellants towards building map approval charges, additional
    constructed area charges, licence fee, inspection charges, etc. along with
D   interest @ 18% per annum from the date of receipt of said payments by
    the appellants till the date of actual refund to the appellants. As regards
    the damages claimed by the appellants for the incomplete construction
    which by that time had been raised upto 9 stories (which was held to be
     under compulsion), it was directed that it would be advisable that the State
E   of Rajasthan cor,istitutes an expert Committee consisting of the Chief
     Engineer PWD and Director, Town Planning Department or any other
    officer having expertise to assess the value at the PWD rates and value the
    construction on the site and after such valuation made by the Committee,
     the amount assessed be refunded to the appellants within forty five days·
    of the assessment.
F
         As directed by the learned Single Judge, a Valuation Committee was
    constituted by the State Government and the value of the construction as
    per PWD rates was assessed at Rs. 9,97,51,003. From this amount, 10%
    was deducted by the Committee as contractor's profit, which was included
    in the analysis of BSR rates. After deducting 10% amount, i.e., Rs.
G   99,75,100 amount payable to the appellants representing the construction
    on the land was worked out by the Committee at Rs. 8,97,75,903.

          Aggrieved by the aforesaid order of the learned Single Judge, appeals
    were preferred before the Division Bench which were acc;epted. It was held
H   that the sale of land by way of auction was neither statutory nor by way
      GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.)               l 151

of grant. Consequently, it was held that the rights and obligations A
incorporated in the sale deed were not statutory in character. That it was
a completed contract in which highly disputed questions of fact were
involved which could not be adjudicated upon by the High Court in
exercise of its writ jurisdiction. It was left open to the appellants to seek
their remedy in the Civil Court, if so advised.
                                                                              B
      At the outset, we may state that Shri Shanti Bhushan, learned senior
counsel appearing for the appellants fairly conceded that he would not be
able to support the findings recorded by the Single Judge to the effect that
the rights and obligations incorporated in the sale deed were statutory in C
character or that the sale of land by Respondent No. l to the appellants
were by way of grant. He accepted the findings to the contrary recorded
by the Division Bench in this regard.

      Before taking up the contentions raised on the merits by the counsel
for the parties we would like to briefly refer to the question regarding the D
maintainability of the writ petition in contractual matters. Challenging the
finding recorded by the Division Bench regarding the maintainability of
the writ petition it was contended on behalf of the appellants that there is
no absolute bar to the maintainability of the writ petition in contractual
matters. Maintainability or otherwise in contractual matters is but an aspect E
of the existence of equally efficacious alternative remedy. The power to
entertain a writ petition under Article 226 even in contractual matters is
plenary but actual exercise of jurisdiction in a particular case would be
discretionary and such discretion in turn is exercisable on sound judicial
principles. This Court in appropriate ca5es has entertained the writ
petitions in contractual matters and interfered to grant the relief deemed F
fit keeping in view the facts of the case. No cause can be adjudicated
with0ut reference to some facts and mere enquiry into facts, as those
emerging from a limited set of admitted facts does not in any manner act
as a bar to the exercise of writ jurisdiction. In the present case the entire
case centers around roughly 25 undisputed documents. The question of G
leading oral evidence does not arise and no intricate interpretation of
documents or complicated inquiry into facts is warranted. So far as the
issue as to assessment of value of the structure standing on the property
is concerned the same stands covered by a detailed factual report quan-
tifying the precise valuation. Based on the inferences to be drawn from H
     1152                SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A documents, the questions of what relief, if any, this Court consioers fit to
      grant, and how, if at all, such relief is to be tailored to suit the facts and
    _ circumstances of the case, are to be answered.

           As against this, Mr. Harish Salve, learned senior counsel appearing
B    for the respondent-State submitted that the contention that contractual
     disputes can be raised in proceedings under Article 226" is misconceived.
     The remedy under Article 226 is a remedy in public law, and, therefore
     in a remedy by way of judicial review, what is amenable to challenge is
     the decision making process and not the decision itself. According to him,
     the actions of the Government in contractual field, in rare cases, may
C    be questioned as being arbitrary or unreasonable being violative of Article
     14 of the Constitution but that does not mean that the Court is required
     to examine a completed contract of sale of property being void or
     otherwise. That the points involved in the writ petition are highly disputed
     questions of fact which cannot be decided without taking evidence and
D    therefore the Division Bench was right in non-.suiting the appellants on the
     ground of non-maintainability of the writ petition .and leaving it open to
     the appellants to work out their remedy in the Civil Court.

            Although prima facie we are in agreement with the view taken by the
E High Court that the petition involves disputed questions of fact in relation
     to a completed contract of sale of land which cannot be adequately
     adjudicated upon in exercise of writ jurisdiction, but, despite holding that
     the disputed questions of fact are not be adjudicated in exercise of writ
     jurisdiction, yet we are not inclined, in the exercise of power under Article
      136 of the Constitution to dismiss the appeal on this account at this stage
F    because that is likely to result in the miscarriage of justice on account of
     lapse of time which may now result in the foreclosure ofall other remedies
     which could be availed of by the appellants in the ordinary course. At the
     present·stage of the proceedings the alternative remedy of filing the suit
     would not be efficacious. This Court in a number of cases, even ·after
G    recording a finding that the writ petition was not maintainable and that
     the High Court·ought.not to have entertained it; has declined to interfere
     on the ground of non-maintainability where it is found, that the matter has
     been pending for long and/or the High Court has already entertained the
     writ petition [albeit wrongly] and/or when to send the writ petitioner back
H    would cause grave delay or harassment. In such cases this· Court has
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.)               1153

proceeded to decide the dispute on merits. For this, we may refer to a A
recent decision of this Court in Kera/a State Electricity Board & Anr. v.
Kurien E. Kalathil & Ors., [2000] 6 SCC 293, in which this Court
observed:

         "12. Ordinarily,_in view of the aforesaid conclusions on the first    B
         contention, we would have allowed the appeal and directed
         dismissal of the writ petition (OP No. 283 of 1995) without
         examining the second contention. However, despite holding that
         the disputes in question could not be agitated in a writ petition
         and thus the High Court wrongly assumed jurisdiction in the facts
         of the case, yet we are not inclined in the exercise of our power C
         under Article 136 of the Constitution, to dismiss the writ petition
         of the contractor at this stage because that is likely to result in the
         miscarriage of justice on account oflapse of time which may now
         result in the foreclosure Of all other remedies which could
         otherwise be availed of by the contractor in the ordinary course. D
         Those remedies are not efficacious at the present stage and,
         therefore, in view of t~e peculiar circumstances of the case, we
         have examined the second contention and the factors which
         weighed with the High Court in granting relief."

     Keeping in view the peculiar facts of the case and the fact that it will E
not be a sound exercise of judicial discretion to relegate the petitioners to
recourse to the alternate remedy of civil suit belatedly at the presen• stage,
we proceed to examine the dispute on merits.

      The case of the appellants are that the conveyance deed is liable to     F
be cancelled and set aside on the ground that it is vitiated by misrepresen-
tations made on behalf of the Respondent, on account of which the
appellants were wrongly induced to enter into the contract and that the
conveyance was entered into by mistake. The misrepresentation alleged
is on account of :
                                                                               G
         (a)   the FAR of the property being 1.75 whereas it was described
               as 2.00 in the auction notice as well as conveyance deed; and

         (b)   the property was, in the auction notice, described as "free
               hold and ceiling free" whereas the appellants were com- H
    1154               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A                 pelled to apply for exemption from land ceiling which
                  procedure involved some delay. While giving exemption
                  from the provisions of Chapter III of the Ceiling Act a
                  condition wa5 put that the plot would not be "sold, gifted or
                  transferred" without prior approval of the State Gqvernment
B                 which was onerous as well as contrary to the auction notice.
                  The land in dispute was not ceiling free as was represented
                  in the auction notice and that the condition put in the
                  exemption letter that the property would not be alienated
                  without prior permission of the Government made the
c                 property not to be free hold as well.

          Elaborating the first point, it was submitted that the appellants
    purchased the property on a representation made to them, that the FAR was
    2.0 and the property was free hold as well as ceiling free. The appellants
D   were persuaded to make the bid as a result of such misrepresentation by
    the Government in the auction notice. The contract could not be said to
    have been made by the consent of the parties under Section I 0 and became
    voidable at the option of the appellants under Section 19 of the Indian
    Contract Act. That the contract was frustrated and incapable of being
    performed in terms of Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act. That the
E   appellants.-have almost come to ruination because of the action of the
    responden~ in as much as they have invested huge sums of money after
    borrowing from the Bank at high rates of interest without any return for
    the last so 'mariy years. As against this the case put forth on behalf of the
    respondents is that there was no misrepresentation as alleged. On the date
F   on which the contract was entered into, i.e., the date on which auction went
    in favour of the appellants there was no misrepresentation even as alleged
    by 'the appellants since the FAR on that. date was 2.0. The FAR was
    changed by virtue of change in law, which could not have been envisaged
    at the time the contract was entered into. The delay in the execution of
G   the conveyance deed was pre-dominantly on account of causes attributable
    to the appellants. That the appellants having got executed and accepted the
    conveyance even after the reduction of the FAR voluntarily or without
    demur and having raised construction clearly declared their intention to
                                                                                    ,;
    proceed with the contract which is inconsistent with the plea that they had
H   the intention to rescind the contract. Having declared their intention to
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]              1155

proceed with the contract the appellants were bound by their affirmation. A
Having affirmed the contract they cannot go back on their affirmation and
seek rescission of the contract. That the contention in relation to frustration
is misconceived as Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act does not apply
to the cases of completed transfer.
                                                                             B
      From the pleadings of the parties it is clear that tht: .ippellants gave
their bid in the auction for sale of the property on the terms and conditions
as contained in the auction notice which included the parameters approved
by the JDA for construction of building complex set out in Clause (8)
providing for FAR 2.0. Appellants paid the price inclusive of interest for
the delayed payment amounting to Rs. 19,86,77,273 and got the sale deed C
after paying the requisite stamp duty and registration charges, executed on
7 .1.1997 and· got the physical possession of the auction property vide
possession letter dated 7 .1.1997. After receiving the possession the
appellants submitted the plans for construction of Hotel-cum-Commercial
Complex to the JMC on 27.l.1997 for approval. The Building Plans D
Committee of the JMC on 20.2.1997 approved the plans with the modi-
fication of FAR from specified FAR 2.0 in the sale deed to 1.75 only. It
was stated that this modification of FAR by the JMC was bec·ause of the
Buildings Regulations/Bye-Laws of 1996 which came into force w.e.f.
28.6.1996. Even after approval the JMC did not release the plans till E
charges for approval of plans were paid. The appellants deposited a sum
of Rs. 1,48, 78,887 for the approval of the plans with the JMC on 21.4.1997
and after receiving the approved plans the appellants commenced the
construction activities which according to the appellants were without
prejudice to their rights and the belief that the remaining FAR would be F
approved.

      From these facts what emerges is that on 21.12.1994, the date on
which the auction went in favour of the appellants there was no
misrepresentation even as alleged by the appellants since the FAR on that
date was 2.0. · The FAR was changed by virtue of change in the. law. As G
per term No. 5 of the auction notice the successful bidder was required to
deposit I 0% of the final bid on the spot in cash or through Demand Draft
in favour of the Director of Estate, Rajsthan. 15% of the amount of the
final bid was required to be deposited within 15 days from the date ·of
acceptance and the remaining 75% of the amount of the final bid was t(\. H
    1156               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A   be deposited by successful bidder within 60 days of the notice for deposit
    of the said bid amount on being informed by the Respondent. Failure to
    deposit the amount as per the above stipulation could result in forfeiture
    of the amount already deposited by the successful bidder and result in
    cancellation of the bid. The appellants did not deposit the amount as per
B . schedule of payment set out in the auction notice. The entire sale
    consideration amounting to Rs. 19,56,76,000 was paid on 16.5.1995. A
    sum of Rs. 30,01,273 towards interest for delayed payment (to the payment
    of which the appellants agreed) was also paid. The last payment of
    Rs. 83,562.72 P. towards amount of interest was made by demand draft
C dated 26.09.1995. The cost and expenses for registration of patta, stamp
    duty and all other incidental expenses were to be borne by the purchaser.
    The sale deed could not be executed in favour of the· appellants as the
    appellants did not furnish the stamp paper on which the sale deed was to
    be executed; After repeated letters including the letter dated 21.05.1996
    the appellants submitted the requisite stamp duty and registration charges
D· amounting to Rs. 1,19,25,720. for execution of the sale deed on 18.12.1996.
    Thereafter, the sale deed was executed and registered on 7.01.1997 and
    immediately thereafter the possession was delivered. These facts demonstrate
    that delay in the execution of the conveyance was principally on account
    of the reasons attributable to the appellants. In the meantime the FAR was
E changed by virtue of a change in the law. The 1989 Bye-laws were
    changed by Bye-laws of 1996 which came into force w.e.f. 28.6.1996. As
    per these bye-laws FAR was changed from 2.0 to 1. 75. Had the appellants
    made the payments as per schedule of the payment given in the auction
    notice and submitted the requisite stamp duty the conveyance deed would
F have been executed prior to the amendment in law. The appellants by their
    letter dated 18.12.1996, i.e., after the reduction of the FAR requested the
    respondent to execute the conveyance. This was done despite knowledge
    of reduction of FAR. Request made to the respondent on 18.12.1996 for
    execution of the conveyance deed despite having knowledge of the
    reduction of the FAR clearly shows that the plea of misrepresentation or
G mistake on account of change offAR is not made out on the admitted facts.
         It was then contended on behalf of the appellants that in the
    conveyance deed the FAR was again mentioned as 2.0 and at that stage
    there was a clear misrepresentation by the respondent. To establish
H   misrepresentation on this count the reliance was placed on the provisions
..         GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.)              1157

     of the Indian Contract Act. There is no force in this s·ubmission. Statement A
     about the existing state of the law innocently made cannot constitute
     misrepresentation if it is later found that the statement was erroneeus. This
     would be particularly so where the other party to whom the statement is
     made is aware of or has the ability to conveniently apprise itself of the
     correct state of the facts and the law applicable. Assuming (but without ·B
     holding) that there was some misrepresentation the appellants had a couple
     of remedies, i.e., to either rescind the contract or seek restitution or to
     affirm the contract without prejudice to their right to seek damages by way
     of restitution for the loss caused by the misrepresentation. It is apparent
     that the appellants did not rescind the contract or seek restitution by way C
     of damages. Instead they affirmed the contract which is clear from the
     fact that they immediately commenced construction on the land even
     though the building plans were on FAR 1.75. Affirmation oftP,e contract
     and proceeding with the construction clearly indicates that the appellants
     did not rescind the contract nor reserved their right to seek restitution by
     award of damages; or seek restitution rather they affirmed the contract and D
     went ahead with it.

           It was then argued that the appellants had to start construction
     immediately as a very strict stipulation was contained in the auction notice
     (Condition No. 9). It was also represented in the sale deed that construction E
     work on the plot should be commenced within one year from the date of
     handing over the possession of the land and the construction of building
     skould be completed within 3 years. The extension beyond 3 years was
     to be given subject to payment of a penalty of Rs. 20,000 per month but
     in no case the period would be extended beyond 2 years. Clause 13 of
     the terms of the auction also provided that any violation of any terms and F
     conditions would lead to forfeiture of purchase of right of the property
     and the property would stand reverted to the government without paying
     any compensation for· the property. Because of the condition contained
     in clauses 9 and 13 of the terms of auction the appellants inspite of having
     knocked the doors of the court had to start with the construction otherwise G
     they ran the risk of their right to the property being forfeited. We do not
     find any merit in this submission. At the time of initiating the legal
     proceedings in the Court, it was open to the appellants to either affirm the
     contract without prejudice to their right seeking damages by way of
     restitution for loss caused by alleged misrepresentation or to rescind the H
     1158               SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A    contract by getting the declaration that the contract was not binding on the
                                                                                      ...
     appellants. Thi! appellants elected the first option. Had the appellants
     rescinded the contract and prayed for declaration that the contract was not
     binding on them, then, on its being so declared, terms 9 and 13 of the
     auction notice would not have bound the appellants in any way. The court
B    while granting the relief could have moulded the relief according to facts
     and situation prevalent. It would not have in any way affected the
     appellants. The appellants cannot be permitted to sit on the fence in
     indecision and take. a chance. By putting up the construction of basement
     and the other floors above the appellants have encumbered the property.
     The respondent cannot be fastened with the liability to pay for the
C    construction put up by the appellants with full knowledge of true facts.

           T~e appellants have founded their case on the plea of avoidance of
     contract as vitiated by misrepresentation on the part of respondents or
     mistake on the part of the appellants or in the alternative, on the ground
D    of frustration. Let us test if the appellants have any legs to stand on, on
     either of the pleas.

          Misrepresentation is defined in Section 18 of the Contract Act. Effect
     of mistakes is dealt with by Sections 21 and 22 of the Contract Act.
.E
           According to Section 19 of the Contract Act when consent to an
     agreement is caused by misrepresentation, the agreement is a contract
     voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so caused. The
     latter may, if he thinks fit, insist that the contract shall be performed and
     that he shall be put in the position in which he would have been if the
F    representations made had been true. According to Section 2 clause (i), an
     agreement which is enforceable by law at the option of one or more of the
     parties thereto', but not at the option of the other or others, is a. voidable
     contract. It is not necessary for us to record a clear finding whether there ·
     wTis a misrepresentation on the part of the respondents or not~ Suffice it
G    to observe that a voidable contract confers the right of election on the party
     affected to exercise its option to avoid the legal relations created by the
     contract or to stand by the contract and insist on its performance. However,
     his election to stand by the cont~act once exercised would have the effect
     of ratification of the contract with the knowledge of misrepresentation on
H    the part of the other party and that would extinguish its power of avoidance.
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.)              1159

In the very nature of the right conferred on the party affected, the law A
expects it to exercise its option promptly and communicate the same to the
opposite party; for until the right of avoidance is exercised, the contract
is valid, and things done thereunder may not thereafter be undone.

      A right to rescind for misrepresentation can be lost in a variety of B
ways, some depending on the right of election. A representee on
discovering the truth loses his right to rescind if once he has elected not
to rescind. But he may lose even before he has made any election where
by reason of his conduct or other circumstances it would be unjust or
inequitable that he retains the right. For instance where third parties have C
acquired rights under the contract; again wher~ it would be unjust to the
representor because it is impossible to restore him to his original position.
Restitutio in integrum is not only a consequence of rescission, its possibility
is indispensable to the right to rescind. Again, delay in election may make
it unjust that the right to elect should continue. For this reason the right
to rescission for misrepresentation in general must be promptly exercised. D
(See, Indian Contract and Specific Relief Acts ~ Pollock and Mulla,
Eleventh Edition, Volume I, pp. 269-270).

     Chitty on Contracts (Volume I, Twenty-Eighth Edition 1999, para 25-
003) states - "Once the innocent party has elected to affirm the contract,   E
and this has been communicated to the other partY, then the choice
becomes irrevocable. There is no need to establish reliance or detriment
by the party in default. Thus the innocent party, having affirmed, cannot
subsequently change his mind and rely on the breach to justify treating
himself as discharged".
                                                                             F
      Under Section 20 of the Contract Act, a mistake of fact avoids the
agreement when both the parties to an agreement are under a mistake as
to a matter of fact essential to the agreement. It is necessary that both the
parties should be under a mistake. On the appellants' own showing, the
respondents were not under mistake; according to the appellants, the G
respondents knew the correct facts and yet misrep1esented. The appellants
pleadings of misrepresentation and mistake in the alternative, in the facts
and circumstances of the case, are mutually destructive. Under Section 21
a contract is not voidable because it was caused by a mistake as to any
Jaw in force in India. The appellants cannot rely on the pleading of mistake H




                                                                                  -
    1160               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A of their part or misrepresentation on the part of the respondents as to the       l

    applicability of Urban Ceiling Law and FAR as provided by the bye-laws,
    both being the laws in force in India. Here agam, the vitiating effect of
    alleged mistake shall stand obliterated no sooner it is found that the
    appellants have, in spite of the so-called mistake being discovered, yet,
B   chosen to stand by the contract, ratifying the same by their conduct and
    went ahead to exercise the rights which accrued to them under the same
    contract which they are pleading to be vitiated by the mistake.

         The doctrine of frustration, as applicable in India in contracts stands,
    codified in Section 56 of the Contract Act. It provides :
c
                  56. An agreement to 'do an act impossible in itself is void.

                 A contract to do an act which, after the contract is made,
             becomes impossible, or, by reason of some event which the
             promisor could not prevent, unlawful, becomes void when the act
D
             becomes impossible or unlawful.

                  Where one person has promised to do something which he
             knew, or, with reasonable diligence, might have ·known, and
             which the promisee did not know to be impossible or unlawful,
E            such·promisor must make compensation to such promisee for any
             loss which such promisee sustains through the non-performance
             of the promise.

          The doctrine was so enunciated by this Court in Satyabrata Ghose
F   v. Mugneeram Bangur and Co. and Anr., [1954] SCR 310:

                  "The first paragraph of the section lays down the law in the
             same way as in England. It speaks of something which is
             impossible inherently or by its very nature, and no one can
             obviously be directed to perform such an act. The second
G            paragraph enunciates the law relating to discharge of contract
             by reason of supervening impossibility or illegality of the
             act agreed to be done. The wording of this paragraph is quite
             general, and though the illustrations attached to it are not at all
             happy, they cannot derogate from the general words used in the
H            enactment.
      GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v .. STATE [BHAN, J.]              1161

              This much is clear that the word "impossible" has not been A
         used here in the sense of physical or literal impossibility. The
         performance of an act may not be literally impossible but it may
         be impracticable and useless from the point of view of the object
         and purpose which the parties had in view; and if an untoward
         event or change of circumstances totally upsets the very founda- B
         tion upon which the parties rested their bargain, it can very well
         be said that the promisor finds it impossible to do the act which
         he promised to do.

        In Mis Alopi Parshad and Sons. Ltd. v. Union of India, [1960] 2
SCR 793, this Court clarified that the courts have no power to absolve a C
party from liability to perform a contract merely because the performance
becomes onerous; the expressed covenants in a contract cannot be ignored
only on account of unexpected and uncontemplated tum of events after
the contract. However, a consideration of the terms of the contract in the
light of circumstances, when it was made, shows that the parties never D
agreed to be bound in a fundamentally different situation which unexpect-
edly emerges, the contract ceases to bind at that point, not because the
Court in its discfotion considers it just and reasonable to qualify the terms
of the contract but because on its true construction it does not apply in that
situation. Here again, it has to be noted that the doctrine of frustration can E
only apply to executory contracts and not the transactions which have
created a demise in praesenti (See H V. Rajan v. C.N. Gopal and Ors., AIR
(1975) SC 261, 265.) In Raja Dhruv Dev Chand v. Harmohinder Singh
& Anr., [ 1968] 3 SCR 339, their Lordships held - "There is a clear
distinction between a completed conveyance and an executory contract,
 and events which discharge a contract do not invalidate a concluded F
 transfer".

      In the auction notice it was represented that the land in question was
freehold as well as· ceiling free. The Ceiling Act does not apply to the
Government lands. It is admitted before us, that the government was aware G
(though it may have had the intention right from the beginning to exempt
the land from the Ceiling Act) that the land which was being auctioned
was not exempted from ceiling and the exemption could only be granted
after the transfer of the land to a private person. The appellants received
a notice under Section 38 of the Ceiling Act informing thatthey own excess H
    1162               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A land in Jaipur City as prescribed under Section 4 of the Urban Land Ceiling
  Act and had not submitted their return under Section 6 read with Section
  l 5 within the prescribed period. Appeliants were directed to appear before
  the competent authority on l 7.04.1997 to explain why action should not
  be taken against them under Section 38 of the Act. Soon after the receipt
B of the said letter, the appellants applied for exemption under the Act which
  was granted promptly on 11.8.1997. Exemption was given subject to
  various conditions which were imposed by the exemption order. It was
  stated that para-meters of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation regarding
  construction would be applicable. According to the appellants this
  virtually amounted to unilaterally reducing the FAR 2 to FAR 1.75. The
C second condition was that the plot will not be transferred without prior
  approval of the State Government even though the prope1ty could be
  mortgaged to financial institutions for taking loan without parting with
  possession. According to the appellants, imposition of these conditions
  were contrary to the representation contained in the auction advertisement
D that the property was freehold. It was argued that it is well known that
  the transfer of freehold property is freely transferable and does not require
  any permission. In imposing such condition the government was taking
  away the freehold character of the property. The representation that the
  property was ceiling exempted was a very material representation which
E had induced the appellants to offer a very high bid. That the ac.tion of the
   State in making a representation that the property was ceiling free, although
   it knew that there was a ceiling limit not only amounted to misrepresen-
   tation under Section 18 of the Indian Contract Act but in fact amounted
   to fraud because any representation with knowledge that the tepresentation
   was not true would amount to fraud. It was argued that the contract having
F been induced by misrepresentation, it was open to the appellants to avoid
   the contract under Section 19 of the Contract Act.

           Per contra, it was contended on behalf of the respondents that so far
    as the order dated 11th August, 1997 under the Ceiling Act, imposing
G   certain conditions, is concerned, the stand of the State has always been that
    it is not going to enforce any of these conditions. That even today the stand
    of the State is that it is not going to enforce any of the conditions as
    imposed in tht:: exemption order.

         Other aspects of the plea founded on Section 19 of the Contr~ct Act
H   have already been dealt with hereinbefore.
             GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]              1163

           So far as the Ceiling Act is concerned, the Act itself has been repealed A
      by the Notification dated October 7, J999 as published in the Rajasthan
      Gazette dated October 11, 1999. With the repeal of the Ceiling Act, all
      proceedings under the Ceiling Act have abated. Reference may be made
      to a decision of this Cow1 in Pandit Madan Swaroop Shrotiya Public
      Charitable Trust v. State of UP. & Others, [2000] 6 SCC 325.                  B
            So far as the order dated I 1th August, 1997 under the Ceiling Act
      is concerned, the stand taken by the State through out has been that it is
      not going to enforce any of those conditions. It was so submitted by the
      learned Advocate General while appearing for the State ofRajasthan before
      the High Cou11. The aforesaid fact is admitted by the appellants themselves C
      in their memo of appeal [Ground (u)]. Even today, the stand of the State
      is that it is not going to enforce any of those conditions as imposed under
      the exemption order. This apart the process for obtaining exemption from
      land ceiling did not in any manner affect the appellants for the reason that
      their plans were sanctioned even before the question was raised as to the D
      application of the Urban Land Ceiling Act to the property. The appellants
      as per their letter, couched as representation, dated 10.10.1997 had started
      digging for the basement in February, 1997 immediately upon the sanction
      of building plans. The process of construction began immediately. Thus,
      the condition imposed in the exemption order were not an impediment in E
      any manner. It is appellants' own case that they had sta11ed construction
      of a multi-storeyed complex upon the prope11y which clearly implies that
      the appellants had never the intention of the transferring the land as plots
      and therefore the condition inhibiting the transfer of plots was irrelevant
      so far as the appellants are concerned.
                                                                                   F
           It is the appellants who delayed th~ payment of sale consideration on
      the dates stipulated for payment. For the period of delay they agreed to
      pay interest to the State Government voluntarily; they voluntarily paid
      stamp duty and bore registration charges as stated above in the end of
      December, 1996 and got the sale deed executed on 7th January, 1997 on G
      which date the possession was delivered to them and thereafter they
      voluntarily paid the charges for the approval of building plans with FAR
      1.75 and proceeded with construction work for establishing Hotel-cum-
.,,   Commercial Complex by demolition of existing structure of Dr. Hellings
      Bunglow standing on the land in question, levelling the same, digging deep H
    1164               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A   foundation, constructing basement and thereafter further raising construc-
    tion of ground floor and other floors. They cannot now be permitted to
    turn round and claim refund of any amount which they allege to have spent
    including the claim for the interest. The appellants have voluntarily paid
    the entire money, entered into possession, raised construction and incurred
B   expenditure voluntarily and as such they are not entitled to any refunc! or
    any claim and declaration as such on the ground of frustration or
    impossibility cf performance of the contract.

          Every contract including one by auction is subject to provisions of
    law. Whenever any action is taken in performance of a contract, it must
C   conform to the law in force at the time when action is taken. In the instant
    case when the appellants applied for approval of building plans it is the
    law that is in force at that time, which would be applicable. Doctrine of
    promissory estoppel is not available when any action is desired to be taken
    in contravention of the provisions of law. The terms and conditions of the
D   sale as announced when the property was put to· sale were in accordance
    with law and no guarantee was given (nor could have been given) that the
    law would not change, or that the terms and conditions would be
    enforceable even in violation of law which may be in force. FAR was a
    matter of law and the FAR was fixed either by the JOA or JMC in exercise
E   of its statutory powers. The contract when entered into, the FAR approved
    by JOA was 2 and its subsequent reduction in 1996 to 1.75 would not
    invalidate the contract or by treating as a breach of the contract nor can
    it be treated by the Government.

          In reply to the contention raised on behalf of the State Government
F   that the appellants having failed to rescind the contract immediately on
    co~ing to know of the breach or misrepresentation by the government, it
    could not exercise their right of rescinding the contract under Section 39
    or avoiding under Section 19 of the Contract Act later on, it was submitted·
    on behalf of the appellants that this contention of the State Government
G   was devoid of any force. According to the appellants the legal right to
    avoid a contract or rescind the contract can be waived but there is no
    principle of law which requires the exercise of the right of repudiation of
    the contract to be done immediately on coming to know about the
    misrepresentation or breach of contract. It was open to th~ aggrieved party
H   to persuade the defaulting pa1ty t_o rectify the situation and to wait till the
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. ST ATE [BHAN, J.]              1165

defaulting party refuses to rectify its default before exercising its right of A
repudiation of the contract. Reference was made to Sikkin Subba J!.sso-
ciates v. State of Sikkim, [2001] 5 SCC 629, wherein this Court observed
as follows:

         "Waiver involves a conscious, voluntary and intentional B
         relinguishment or abandonment of a known, existing legal right,
         advantage, benefit, claim or privilege, which except for such a
         waiver, the party would have enjoyed. The agreement between
         the parties in this case is such that its fulfilment depends upon the
         mutual performance of reciprocal promises constituting the con-
         sideration for one another and the reciprocity envisaged and C
         engrafteci is such that one party who fails to perform his own
         reciprocal promise cannot asse1t a claim for performance of the
         other party and go to the extent of claiming even damages for non-
         performance by the other party. He who seeks equity must do
         equity and when the condonation or acceptance of belated per- D
         formance was conditional upon the future good conduct and
         adherence to the promises of the defaulter, the so-called waiver
         cannot be considered to be forever and complete it itself so as to
         deprive the State, in this case, of its power to legitimately
         repudiate and refuse to perform its part on the admitted fact that E
         the default of the appellants continued till even the passing of the
         award in this case. So far as the defaults and consequent
         entitlement or right of the State to have had the lotteries either
         foreclosed or stopped further, the State in order to safeguard its
         own stakes and reputation has continued the operation of lotteries
         even undergoing the miseries arising out of the persistent defaults F
         of the appellants. The same cannot be availed of by the appellants
         or used as a ground by the arbitrator to claim any immunity
         permanently for being pardoned, condoned and waived of their
         subsequent recurring and persistent defaults so as to deny or
         denude forever the power of the State as the other party to the G
         contract to put an end to the agreement and thereby relieve
         themselves of the misfortunes they were made to suffer due to
         such defaults. Once the appellants failed to deposit the prize
          money in advance within the stipulated time, the time being of
         the essence sirice the prizes announced after the draw have to be H
                                                                            -..-   .. ·.




    1166               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A            paid from out of only the p1;ize money deposited, the State was
             well within its rights to repudiate not only due to continuing
             wrongs or defaults but taking into account the past conduct and
             violations also despite the fact that those draws have been
             completed by declaration or disbursement of prize amounts by the
             State from out of its own fu11ds. The conclusion to the contrary
B
             that the State has committed breach of the contract is nothing but
             sheer perversity and contradiction in terms."

         In our view, this decision has no application to the facts of the
  present case. In the said case the appellants therein was appointed as
C "organising agent" for lotteries of the Respondent State. Subsequently,
  disputes arose which led to termination of the agency by the State.
  Appellants therein got an arbitrator appointed under Section 8 of the
  Arbitration Act, 1940. Claims and counter-claims were filed and evidence
  adduced by the parties before the Arbitrator. Arbitrator made its award
D determining the amount payable by the State to the appellants at
  Rs. 37,75,00,000 and the amount payable by the appellants to the State by
  way of counter-claim at Rs. 4,61,35,242. District Judge made the award
  the rule of the court. This was in challenge in the High Court of Sikkim
  where there were only two Judges. Chief Justice set aside the award while
E the other Judge held that the matter required to be remitted to the arbitrator
  for re-determining the quantum of damages. The court thereafter by its
  order dated 29th September 1995 directea the matter to be placed before
  the incoming Chief Justice/Judge. Subsequently both the Chief Justice and
  the other Judge were, in due course, succeeded by new incu111bents to those
  offices. The new Judge fixed the date of hearing and before him the
F appellants filed an application opposing the hearing of the appeal in view
  of section 98(2) CPC. This application was dismissed by the Division
  Bench as.not maintainable in view of the reference made by the Division
  Bench. This was challenged in this Court. After resolving the controversy
  on the aforesaid point, the CoUit proceeded to examine the award made
G by the arbitrator. It was held that the ii.ward under challenge stood vitiated
  on account of several errors of law, apparent on the face of it and such
  infirmities go to substantiate the claim of the State that the arbitrator not
  only acted arbitrarily and irrationally on a perverse understanding or
  misreading of the materials but was also found to have misdirected himself
H on the vital issues rendering the award to be bad in law. The arbitrator
      GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.)               1167

and the District Judge had recorded a finding that the State in spite of A
warnings and threats did not actually stop draws or to other subsequent
draws by the appellants and allowed the lotteries to go on without any
break. That the State government had condoned or waived the lapses and
defaults. In this context, the observations quoted above were made by this
court. It would be seen that this contract was an executory contract and B
not completed contract of sale of prope1ty. It was observed that a waiver
involves a conscious, voluntary and intentional relinquishment or abandon-
ment in known existing legal right. There were persistent and continuous
defaults. Even if the past lapses were taken to have been waived by the
State, it was observed by the Court that the State could not be compelled C
to condone the continues wrong and defaults of the appellants to their
disadvantage and detriment. Observations quoted above are of no avail
to the appellants as in that case the court found that the appellants were
continuing with the defaults in an executory contract. The principle laid
down in the said case would not be applicable to the facts of the present
case.                                                                      D

        Reliance was also placed on Mis Motilal Padampat Sugar Mills Co.
Ltd. v. State of UP. & Others, [1979] 2 SCC .409. In this case the point
which fell for consideration was whether the assurance given by respondent
No. 4 (Chief Secretary or advisor to the Government) on behalfof_the State E
ofU.P. that the appellants would be exempt from payment of sales tax for
a period of three years from the date of commencement of production could
be enforced against the State government. On behalf of the retipondent-
State, plea of waiver by the appellants were raised. The Court rejected this
plea of waiver. It was held that waiver is essentially a question of fact and F
it must be properly pleaded and proved which the State had failed to do.
It was also held that waiver means abandonment of a right and it may be
either express or implied from conduct, but its basic requirement is that
it must "ie 'an intentional act with knowledge'. On facts it was found that
there was no waiver and the comt observed:
                                                                             G
         "Now in the present case there is nothing to show that at the date
         when the appellant addressed the letter dated June 25, 1970, it had
         full knowledge of its right to exemption under the assurance given
         by respondent 4 and that it intentionally abandoned such right. It
         is difficult to speculate what was the reason why the appellant H
    1168               SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A            addressed the letter dated Jµne 25, I 970 stating that it would avail
             of the concessional rates of Sales Tax granted under the letter
             dated January 20, 1970. It is possible that the appellant might
             have thought that since no notification exempting the appellant
             from Sales tax had been issued by the State Government under
             Section 4-A, the appellant was legally not entitled to exemption
B
             and that is why the appellant might have chosen to accept
             whatever concession was being granted by the State Government.
             The claim of the appellant to exemption could be sustained only
             on the doctrine of promissory estoppel and this doctrine could not
             be said to be so well defined in its scope and ambit and so free
c            from uncertainty in its application that we should be compelled
             to hold that the appellant must have had knowledge of its right
             to exemption on the basis of promissory estoppel at the time when
             it addressed the Jetter dated June 25, 1970. In fact, in the petition
             as originally filed, the right to claim total exemption from Sales
D            Tax was not based on the plea of promissory estoppel which was
             introduced only by way of amendment."

           In the present case, we have found as a fact that the appellants even
    after acquiring the knowledge of fact regarding reduction of FAR from
E   2.00 to. 1.75 and that the land was not ceiling free elected to affirm the
    contract by getting their plans approved with FAR 1.75 and started putting
    up construction. They started digging the foundations and continued to
    build even after knowing that the land was not ceiling free. Thus, the
    reliance placed on the ratio of Jaw laid down in Mis Motilal Padampat
F   Sugar Mills Co. Ltd. 's case (supra) is of no avail to the appellants.

            Relying upon a decision of this Court in Ningawwa v. Byrappa &
    Others, [ 1968] 2 SCR 797, it was contended by Shri Shanti Bhushan,
    learned senior counsel that a contract or other transaction induced or tainted
    by fraud is not void, but only voidable at the option of the parties
G   defrauded, unless it is avoided, the transaction is valid. Further, drawing
    a distinction between fraudulent· misrepresentation as to the character of
    the document and fraudulent misrepresentation as to the contents thereof
    it was argued that in the case of former the transaction is void while in
    the case of latter it is merely voidable. It was also urged that the appellants
H   could avoid the transaction at any time. In our view, this judgment is of
-          GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. STATE [BHAN, J.]               1169

    no assistance to the appellants as on facts we have found that the default A
    committed by the respondent-State, if any, stood condoned by the appel-
    lants.

          In either case, we find that the appellants are not entitled to any relief
    in the realm of the law of contracts. In spite of having acquired knowledge
    of the true facts assuming that there was any mistake or misrepresentation B
    to begin with and having learnt that the title which was sought to be
    conferred on them by the respondents was not such full title as they had
    contemplated it to be, they proceeded to have the sale deed executed and
    registered in their favour, seeking extensions of time and paying interest
    for the period of delay in payment. The contract stood accomplished into C
    a demise and the transaction ended. It is writ large that the appellants had
    elected to stand by the contract by digging the land,. sinking the basement
    and raising about 9 floors above, investing crores of rupees. They have
    by their own conduct rendered the position irreversible and restitution
     impractical. We have not been shown any law or authority based whereon D
     the appellants may annul and avoid a concluded contract and fix liability
    on respondents for the cost of their construction which they have volun-
    tarily chosen to raise in spite of being aware of all the relevant facts and
    circumstances.

         The learned counsel for the appellants referred to the provisions of E
    Section 90( 1) and (2) o.f Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982, which
    read as under:

             "90 Control by State Government -

             ( 1)   The Authority shall exercise its powers and perform its        F
                    duties under this Act in accordance with the policy framed
                    and the guidelines laid down, from time to time by the State
                    Government for development of the areas in the Jaipur
                    Region.

             (2)    The Authority shall be bound to comply with such directions G
                    which may be issued, from time to time, by the State
                    Government for efficient administtation of this Act."

         It was contended that the State Government has the complete control
    over the JDA and therefore could direct the JDA to adhere to the FAR 2.0 H
    1170                SUPREME COURT ~EPORTS [2003] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A as against the FAR 1.75 provided under the 1996 Regulations. We do not
                                                                                     .
    find much force in this submission. A reading of this section clearly shows
    that the Government can direct the authority to exercise its powers and
    perform its duty in accordance with the policy framed and the guidelines
    laid down from time to time. Policy and guidelines can be issued for
B   general application or for a class of persons or area or based on some such
    other criteria as may withstand the test of Article 14 of the Constitution.
    The power conferred by Section 90 cannot be exercised by the Government
    to give directions to increase the FAR in one individual or particular case.
    The appellants cannot claim a right to get 'exemption from the prevalent
C   law nor heard to say that since the Government had the power to give
    direction, its failure to exercise the power of issuing direction by reference
    to Section 90 of the JOA Act, it has perpetuated the breach of contract.

         Counsel for the appellants also brought to our notice the provisions
    of Section 298(1) of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 to contend that
D   Government had the power to cancel or modify the Bye-laws framed by
    the Board and the failure to do so reflec·~~ that the government did not
    intend to stick to the representation made by it in the auction notice or in
    the sale deed. Section 298 reads as under:

E            "298 Power of Government to cancel or modify bye-laws and
             rules of boards-

             (I)   The State Government may at any time by notification in the
                   Official Gazette repeal wholly or in part or modify any rule
                   or bye-law made by any board.
F
             Provided that before taking any action under this sub-section, the
             State Government shall communicate to the board the grounds on
             which it proposes to do so, fix a reasonable period for the board
             to show cause against the proposal and consider the explanation
G            and objections, if any of the board."

       Section 298 provides that the State Government has the power to
  cancel or modify· bye-laws or rules framed by the board. Again this is
  of no avail to the appellants. Power under Section 298 is in the nature of
H power of superintendence. It is a general power given to the Government
       GANGA RETREAT AND TOWERS LTD. v. ST ATE [BHAN, J.]              1171

that in case the Government feels that the bye-laws framed or the orders A
issued are not reasonable or are detrimental to the public interest or there
is any other good ground available, then, it can repeal the bye-laws wholly
or in part or modify any rule or bye-law made by the Board after inviting
objections. The power could not have been exercised to suit the needs of
an individual case as has been contended by the learned senior counsel for B
the appellants.

        It may be noted that the learned senior counsel for the respondent
pointed out during the course of hearing that the amended bye-laws were
more beneficial to the appellants as there was number of exemptions to be
taken into account while calculating the FAR, namely, storage on all floors, C
balcony, guard-door, lobby, terrace garden, service floor, AC plant room,
locker, dark room, PBX room, guard room, power house, lift room and the
lift well. Under the amended bye-laws of 1996 the appellants would get
more covered area thus causing no prejudice to them. This has been
strongly refuted by the counsel for the appellants. We need not go into D
this disputed question as it is of no consequence to the points already
decided.

     For the reasons stated above, we do not find any merit rn these appeals
and the same are dismissed with no order as to costs.
                                                                               E
N.J.                                                    Appeals dismissed.