Holding

Rule 285‑D requires an immediate cash deposit of 25% of the bid; a cheque does not satisfy the requirement, so the sale is void.

Summary

The appellant, a government revenue claimant, had the deceased's agricultural land attached and auctioned. The respondent, the highest bidder, was directed to deposit 25% of the bid immediately and the balance within 15 days. He tendered the 25% by cheque on the day of the sale, which was encashed four days later, and paid the balance in cash within the stipulated period. The Board of Revenue held that a cheque did not satisfy the mandatory requirement of Rule 285‑D of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952, declaring the sale void; the High Court reversed this view. The Supreme Court held that Rule 285‑D (mirroring Order 21 Rule 84 of the CPC) mandates a cash deposit "immediately" and that payment by cheque is not a valid tender, rendering the auction sale a nullity. Consequently, the appeal was allowed and the High Court order set aside.

Issues considered

The requirement of Rule 285‑D that 25% of the bid amount be deposited "immediately" – does it permit payment by cheque?
Are the terms "immediately" and "forthwith" in Rule 285‑D (and the analogous CPC provisions) mandatory, making non‑compliance a nullity?

Legislation cited

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. Order 21 Rule 84, s. Order 21 Rule 85, s. Order 21 Rule 86, s. Order 21 Rule 87
U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952s. Rule 285-D, s. Rule 285-E, s. Rule 285-F, s. Rule 285-G

Subjects

auction saleland reformmandatory ruleimmediate depositcheque vs cashsale nullityCPC Order 21U.P. Zamindari Rulesland revenue recovery

Judgment

A RAO MAHMOOD AHMED KHAN THROUGH THEIR L.R.
v.
SHRI RANBIR SINGH AND ORS.

FEBRUARY 22, 1995

B [S.C. AGRAWAL AND FAIZAN UI;>DIN, JJ.]

U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Refonns Rules, 1952 : Rules 285
D-Mandatory provision-Sale of land-By auction-Payment of one fourth
bid amount-Rule contemplates payment by cash only-Payment by che- ~
c que-Not a valid tender-Sale declared a nullit)-Land liable to be resold
forthwith.
Code of Civil Procedure,· 1908: Order 21, Rules 84, 85 and 86-Sale .""
of Property-Provision mandatory-Payment of 25 percent of bid amount-
Immediately-Failure to do so would render sale a nullity-l'roperty liable to
D be re-sold forthwith-Provision similar to Rules 285D and 285E of the U.P.
.Zamindari, Abolition and Land Refonns Rules, 1952.
I,>-

Words and Phrases : ''lmmediately'l....J'Forthwith''-Meaning of in tlfe
context of U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Rtfonns Rules, 1952.
E The appellant being the defaulter of Government dues was proceeded
against for recovery of the said amount as arrears of land revenue and in
pursuance or recovery proceedings the Collector attached his agricultural
land. The said land was put to auction sale. The respondent was one of the
bidders and his bid being highest it was knocked down in his Cavour. The ........
F Sale, Officer taking the bid made by respondent to be adequate and
' reasonable, accepted .the same and directed the respondent to deposit 25'
percent of the bid amount at once and the balance of the sale amount
within 15 days. 111~ respondent • auction purchaser deposited one-fourth
or the bJd amount by means of a cheque on the same day which was ---;..
encashed and accounted ror after 11 days and the balance or the bid amount
G was deposited in cash well wlthhi the time stipulated by Ruie 285E ofJJ.P.
I
Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952.

The appellant filed an objection before the Sale Officer for setting
aside the auction sale on the ground that one-fourth of the bid amount was
H not deposited as required by Jaw. The Sale Officer rejected the aforesaid
230
\
RM.AHMED KHAN v. R. SINGH 231
objection and the revision flied against the said order was dismissed by A
the Commissioner. The said order of the Commissioner wa set aside by
the Board of Revenue In revision on the ground that the deposit of
one-fourth of the bid money by means of cheque was not a valid deposit
within the meaning of Rule 285·D of the rules and the auction sale was
therefore void. The respondent flied a Writ petition before the High Court
challenging the aforesaid order of the Board of Revenue and It was allowed. B
Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court the appellant preferred the
present appeal.

On behalf or the appellants It was contended that Rule 285·D or the
Rules was mandatory; that one-fourth or the bid amount had to be C
deposited Immediately by the auction purchaser; that failure to do so
w9uld render the sale a nullity; and that since the cheque for one-fourth
of the bid amount was encashed four days after the auction It was not a
valid deposit.'

Allowing the appeal, this Court D
~.-f HELD : 1.1. Order 21, Rule 84 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
Is almost similar In terms to Rule 285·D or U.P. Zamlndarl Abolition and
Land Reforms Rules, 1952, which provides for deposit or 25 percent or the
bid amount Immediately and on failure to do so re·sale of the property E
forthwith. Rule 285-D requires the person declared to be purchaser to
deposit Immediately 25 percent or the amount of his bid, and In default of
such deposit the property shall be resold forthwith and such person who
failed to deposit 25 percent of the bid amount shall be liable for the
,) expenses Incurred In the first sale and the deficiency of price, If any, which
.,
may occur on the re-sale would be recovered from such defaulting pur· F
chaser as arrears of land revenue. The word "Immediately" and the expres·
sion "re-sale of the property forthwith" are meaningful and significant.
[237-B, FJ
A'
1.2. The word "Immediately" connotes and Implies that the deposit
should be made without undue delay and within such convenient time as G
Is reasonably required for doing the thing same day with all convenient
-( speed excluding the possibility of rendering the other associated cor·
responding act and duty cast upon the omcer/authorlty conducting the sale
as envisaged by Rule 285-D Is to put up the property for re-sale 'forthwith'
OD the failure or the declared purchaser to deposit 25 percent or the bid H
.,

232. SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995] 2S.C.R.

A amount. The word "immediately" th~refore, connotes proximity in time to
comply and proximity in taking steps to re· sell on failure to comply the
requirement of deposit as first condition that is to take place Within
relatively short-interval of time and without any other intervening recur-
rence. The meaning of the word immediately has to be determined by the
context in which it has been used and the purpose for which the statute
B using the word was enacted. Thatbeing so the rule casts an obligation on
the purchaser to deposit 25 percent of the bid amount immediately and if
he fails to do so the property shall be re-sold forthwith. (237-H, 238-A-C]

2.1. Further the Rule 285-D provides for re-sale of the property
C forthwith on the failure of the purchaser to deposit 25 percent of the bid
amount. The word 'forthwith' is synonymous with the word "immediately"
which· means with all reasonable quickness and within a reasonably
prompt time. It, therefore, necessarily follows that the b,itention of the
Legislature is that as soon as it becomes known that the purchaser has
D failed to deposit 25 percent immediately after he is declared as purchaser,
the property shall be put to re-sale forthwith without any loss of time or
postponement of the date of re-sale. (238-D-E]

2.2. The provision of Rule 285-D has been made mandatory because if
the properly is not re-sold forthwith and on the same day or within a day or
E ·two, sufficient numb.er of purchasers may not be forthcoming and the
property may not fetch adequate and fair price to the prejudice of the
judgment-debtor. Another reason for making this provision as mandatory
is .that if on the failure of the purchaser to deposit 25 percent of the bid
amount immediately on the day the person is declared to be purchaser then
p the sale of the property will have to be postponed to some other date and
according to the provisions contained in Rule 285· G no sale after the
postponement under Rule 285-D in default of payment of the purchase
money shall be made until a fresh proclamation bas been issued as
prescribed for the original sale. It is to avoid this situation and the delay in
the sale that the provisions under Rule 285-D bas been made mandatory
G and on the non compliance of.the same the sale becomes a nullity. (238-F-H]

2.3. It is settled law that the provisions of Order 21, Rule 84, 85 and r
86 of the Code of qvil Procedure are mandatory and the provisions of
Rules 285-D and 285-E being similar in terms of the aforementioned
H correspoinding pl'.ovisions of the Code of Civil Procedure there is no
RM.AHMED KHANv. R. SINGH 233

eseape from declaring the sale a nullity i£ Rule 285-D is not complied with• .A
-<--o;: (239-G]
Mani Lal Mohan Lal v. Syed Ahmed, A.I.R. (1954) SC 349, referred
to.

3. Rule 285-D does not contemplate any payment by cheque but a B
cash deposit or 25 percent or the bid amount has to be made in accordance
with the requirement or the rule, otherwise the very purpose or the man-
datory rule 285-D would be frustrated and rendered nugatory. 1£25 percent
'· < or the bid amount is accepted by cheque and subsequently the purchaser
changes his mind and advises his banker.not to encash the cheque or there
is no amount in the account or the purchaser in the bank and the cheque c
is bounced, the purpose or Rule 285-D would be frustrated and thus the
mandatory provision would be rendered nugatory. The result would be that
neither the authorities would be in a position to forfeit any amount of the
purchaser nor the authority would be in a position to defray the expenses
or the sale as contemplated by Rule 285-E. The deposit of 25 percent of the D
bid amount by cheque will therefore,· not be a valid tender within the .
meaning or the rule. (240-D-F]

Hiralal v. Mst. Champa, A.I.R. (1955) Allahabad 226 and Mis Progres-
sive Industrial Entetprises v. Bank of Baroda, A.I.R. (1989) M.P. 177, ap-
proved. E.

/(jrloskar Bros. Ltd. v. I. T. Commissioner, A.I.R. (1954) S.C. 429; /. T.
Commissioner v. M/s. Ogale Glass Workr Ltd., A.I.R. (1966) Madras 435
and Mohidden Bi v. Khatoon B~ held inapplicable•
./

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2589 of F
1995.

From the Judgment and Order dated the 2nd Jan~, 1992 of the
A'
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No.
9589/1985. G
-"'( Ashraf Choudhry, Mrs. Musharraf Choudhry, Aslin Mehrotra, Mah-
mood Khalid Rao and Abhijat P. Medh for the Appellants.

Banarsi Dass, Bahar U. Barq~ Anis Suhrawardi, Mahabir Singh,
Kusum Singh and P.N. Gupta for the Respondents. H
. '
234 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995) 2 S.C.R.

A The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

FAIZAN UDDIN, J. 1. Leave granted.

Learned counsel for parties are heard.

B 2. The short question that arises for our consideration in this appeal
is whether the payment pf one fourth of the amount of auction-sale by
cheque is a valid tender within the meaning of Rule 285·0 of U.P. Zamin· ·
dari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952. ·
-"). ,,
3. The facts in brief leading to the filing of this appeal may be stated
C thus : The deceased respondent No. 1 Rao Mahmood Ahmad Khan being
the defaulter of Government dues to the extent of Rs. 23026.37 paise was
proceeded against for recovery of the said amount as arrears of land
revenue and in pursuance of'recovery proceedings the Collector, Saharan·
pur on 15.11.1986 attached his agricultural land bearing Khasra No. 102,
D Mohalla Ismail Khan, Khewat No.1/2 situated in Village Palhanpur, Tehsil.
& District Sahu.anpur. The said land was put to auction sale on 18.10.1973.
Reghubir Singh, the respondent No. 1 herein was one of the bidders and
his bid being highest for Rs;. 31500, it was knocked down in his favour. The
Sale Officer taking the bid made by respondent No. 1 to be adequate and
reasonable accepted the same and directed the respondent No. 1 to deposit
E 20 per cent of the bid amount at once and the balance of the sale amount
within 15 days by his order dated 10.10.1972. The respondent No. 1, auction
• purchaser deposited a sum of Rs. 8000 by means of a cheque dated
10.10.1978 which was encashed and accounted for in Tehsil account on
22.10.1973 and the balance of the bid amount Rs. 23500 was deposited in
p cash on 30.10.1973 well within the time stipulated by Rule 285-E of the said
rules. The deceased Rao Mahmood Ahmed Khan filed an objection on
17.11.1973 for setting aside the auction sale, inter·alia on the grounds that
1/4th of the bid amount was not deposited as required by law and that the
auction was fictitious and collusive, for t~e reason that the very same
G property when put to auction earlier in 1969 the highest bid offer was Rs.
50,000 but the same was rejected by the Sale Officer, Saharanpur on the
ground that the bid money was inadequate as compared to the value of the
property whereas the subsequent auction sale held on 18.10.1973 could
fetch only Rs. 31500. as the highest price which was accepted to be
adequate price in collusion of the Tehsil authorities with the auction
H purchaser respondent No. 1 herein.
~

..
RM AHMED KHAN v. R SINGH (FAIZAN UDDIN,J.) 2'35
4. The aforesaid objection filed by deceased Rao Mahmood Ahmad A
Khan was rejected and the sale held on 18.10.1973 in favour of Ranbir
.ii('
Singh, respondent No. 1 was confirmed by the Collector by his order dated
9.5.1974. The revision filed against the said order was recommended by the
Commissioner, Meerut Division, Meerut to the Board of Revenue for
dismissal but the Board of Revenue by its order dated 31.5.1977 remanded
the case back to the Commissioner for deciding the revision himself. On
B
remand the Commissioner, Meerut dismissed the revision on merits by his
order dated 25.5.1978. The Commissioner took the view that no material
irregularity was committed in the conduct of auction sale nor it was proved
--\ that the deceased Rao Mahmood Ahmad Khan had suffered any substan-
tial injury by reason of any of the alleged irregularities or mistakes. The c
said order of the Commissioner dated 25.5.1978 was, however, set aside by
the Board of Revenue in revision by order dated 12.4.1985 on the deposit
/ of l/4th of the bid money by means of cheque was not a valid deposit within
the meaning of Rule 285-D of the rules and the auction sale was therefore
void. The said decision of the Board of Revenue was challenged by Shri
D
Ranbir Singh, auction purchaser, respondent No. 1 herein before the High
Court of Allahabad in Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 9589/1985
,,..f
under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The High Court by the
impugned judgment dated 22.1.1992 allowed the writ petition filed by
respondent No. 1, by setting aside the aforesaid order of the Board of
Revenue dated 12.4.1985 by holding that the confirmation of the auction E
sale in favour of respondent No. 1 was valid as the deposit of 25 per cent
of the bid amount by cheque was a valid deposit for the purposes of Rule
285-D of the Rules. It is this decision of the High Court which has been
challenged by the appellants in this appeal who arc the legal rcpre-
scntatives of deceased Rao Mahmood Ahmad Khan. p·
.-·

5. Learned counsel for the appellants urged that the provisions
contained in Rule 285-D of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land
Reforms Rules, 1952 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) are mandatory
and have to be strictly applied in so far as the requirement of deposit of
25 per cent of the amount of bid immediately after the declaration of the G
person to be the purchaser of the property is concerned and on his failure
to do so the sale becomes a nullity. He submitted that in the present case
the sale was knocked down in favour of the respondent No. 1 on 18.10.1973
and, therefore, it was obligatory on him to deposit 25 per cent of the bid
amount immediately on 18.10.1973 itself but he did not do so. On the H
236 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1995) 2 S.C.R.
'
A contrary the respondent No. 1 is said to have delivered a cheque of 25 per
cent of the purchase money on 18.10.1973 which is said to have been ,..._
encashed on 22.10.1973 which under the provisions of Rule 285-D could r
not 'be said to be a valid deposit. The learned counsel for .the appellants,
th~refore, strenously urged that the High Court had fallen in grave error
of law in accepting the deposit of 25 per cent of the bid amount by cheque
B as a valid deposit by taking a view contrary to a Division Bench decision
of the Allahabad fiigh Court rendered in Hira Lal v. Mst. Champa,, A.LR.
(1955) Allahabad 226. It was, therefore, submitted that the impugned
.judgment/order of the High Court of Allahabad is contrary to the man-
datory rule and deserves to be set aside. ')_,
C1
6. With a view to appreciate the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the appellants it would be appropriate at this stage to examine
the relevant provisions of the rules in question. For the purposes of
disposal of this appeal, Rules 285- D, 285-E, 285-F and 285-G are the
relevant rules which are reproduced for ready reference hereun,der :-
D
285-D. The person declared to be the purchaser shall be required .
to deposit immediately twenty fi\'.e per eent of the amount of his
bid, and in default of such deposit the land shall forthwith be again
put up and sold and such person shall be liable for the expenses
E. attending the first sale and any deficiency of price which may occur
on the re-sale which may be recovered from him by the Collector
as if same were an arrear of land revenue.

285-E. The full amount of purchase money shall be paid by ~e
purchaser on or before the fifteenth day from the date of the sale \
F at the district treasury or any syd.-treasury and in case of default ''-
the deposit, after the expenses of sale have been defrayed there-
from, shall be forfeitid to Government and the property shall be
re-sold and the defaulting purchaser shall forfeit all claims to the
property, or .to any part of the sum for which it may be subsequently
sold.
G
285-F. If. the proceeds of the sale which is eventually made are
less than the price biciby such defaulting purchaseer, the difference ,r-
shall be recoverable from him as of it were an arrear of the revenue.

H 285-G. No sale after postponement under Rule 285-A. 285-D or
RMAHMEDKHANv. R.SINGH(FAIZANUDDIN,J.) '237

285-E in default of payment of the purchase money shall be made _A
until a fresh proclamation has been issued as prescribed for the
original sale. . ·

7. It may be noted that.similar provisions are contained in the Code
of Civil Procedure, 1908 also. Order 21, Rule 84 of the Code is almost
similar in terms to Rule 285-D of the Rules in question which provides for B·
deposit .of 25 per cent of the bi~ amount immediatefy and on failure to do
so re-sale of the property forthwith. Order 21, Rules 85 and 86 of the Code·
are similar to Rule 285-E of the Land Reforms Rules requipng the
purchaser payment of the full amount of the purchase money before the
court closes on the 15th day from the·date of sale of property and in the C
event of default to do so the property shall be r~-sold with the only
distinction that in the case of default under Order 21, Rule 86 the Co1irt
/ has the discretion to forfeit to the Government 25 per cent of the bid
amount deposited on the date of sale while in the case of defaUlt under
Rule 285-E of the Land Reforms Rules there is no such discretion. but in D.
. the event of default to deposit the full amount of purchase money. 25 per
cent deposit has to be forfeited after defraying the expenses of re-sale.
·Similarly the provisions contained in Order 21, Rule 87 of the Code are
similar to the provisions contained in Rule 285-G of the Land Reforms
Rules.
E
8. A persusal of the language employed in Rule 285-D would go to
show that it requires the person declared to be purchaser to deposit
immediately 25 per cent of the amount of his bid, and in default of such
deposit the property shall be resold forthwith and such person who· failed
to deposit 25 per cent of the bid amount shall be liable for the expenses p
incurred in the first sale and the deficiency of price, if any, which may occur
on the re-sale would be recovered from such defaulting purchaser as
arrears of land revenue. The use of the word 'immediately' in depositing
25 per cent of the bid amount and the expression re- salt: of the property
'forthwith' are equally meaningful and significant. Strictly speaking the
requirement of deposit of 25 per cent immediately, by the person declared G
to be the purchaser may not mean the deposit on fall of hammer within
twinkle of an eye and without affording the purchaser even th.e reasonable
time to enable him to make the deposit. According to us the word 'imme-
diately' connotes and implies that the deposit should be made without
undue delay and within such convenient time as is rea~onably requisite for H
238 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995] 2 S.C.R.
'
A doing the thing same day with all convenient speed excluding the possibility
of rendering the other associated corresponding act and performance of
duty as nugatory. Here the other associated corresponding act and duty
cast upon the officer/authority co'nducting die sale as envisaged by Rule
285-D is to put up the property for re-sale 'forthwith' on the failure of the
declared purchaser to deposit 25 per cent of the bid amount. The word
B "immediately" therefore, connotes proximity in time ·to comply and
proximity in taking steps to re-sell on failure to comJ.llY the requirement of
deposit as first condition that is to take place within relatively short-interval
of time and without any other intervening recurrence. But it has to be noted
that the meaning of the word immediately has to be determined by the
C context in which it has been used and the purpose for which the statute
using the word was enacted. That being so it goes without saying that in
the instant case the rule casts an obligation on the purchaser to deposit 25
per cent of the bid amount immediately and if he fails to do so the property
shall be re-sold forthwith.
D
9. Further the Rule 285-D provides re-sale of the property forthwith
on· the failure of the purchaser to deposit 25 per cent of the bid amount.
The meaning of the word 'forthwith' is synonymous of the word immedi-
ately which means with all reasonable quickness and within a reasonably
prompt time. It, therefore, necessarily follows that the intention of the
E Legislature is that as soon as it becomes known that the purchaser has
failed to deposit 25 per cent immediately after he is declared as purchaser,
the property shall be put to re-sale forthwith without any loss of time or
postponement of the date of re-sale. The provision has been made man·
datory because if the property is.not re-sold forthwith and on the same day
p but later on after a day or two, the sufficient number of purchasers may
not be forthcoming and the property may not fetch adequate ai;id fair price
to the prejudice of the judgment-debtor. There is yet another reason for
making this provision mandatory and it is this that if on the failure of the
purchaser to deposit 25 per cent of the bid amount immediately and on
the day the person is dee.tared to be purchaser then the sale of the property
G will have to be postponed to some other date and according to the
provisions contained in Rule 25-G·reproduced in para 6 above, no sale
after the postponement under Rule 285·0 in default of payment of the
purchase money shall be made until a fresh proclamation has been issued
as prescribed for the original sale. It is to avoid this situation and the delay
H · in the sale that a provision under Rule 285-D has been made inandatoiy
.
R.M. AHMED KHAN v. R. SINGH (FAIZAN UDDJN,J.] 239

and on the failure of compliance of the same the sale becomes a nullity. A
10. The controversy whether the provisions of Order 21, Rule 84, 85
and 86 are mandatory or not has been set at rest by this Court. The
provisions of Order 21, Rules 84, 85 and 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
as said earlier, are almost similar in terms to the provisions contained in
Rule 285-D and 285-E of the Land Reform Rules. This Court in the case B
of Mani Lal Mohan Lal v. Syed Ahmad, A.l.R. (1954) S.C. 349 ruled as
under :·

"Having examined the language of the relevant rules and the
judicial decisions bearing upon the subject we are of the opinion C
that the provisions of the rules requiring the deposit of 25 per cent
of the purchase money immediately on the person being declared
as a purchaser and the payment of the balance within 15 days of
/ the sale are mandatory and upon non-compliance with these
provisions there is no sale at all. The rules do not contemplate that
there can be any sale in favour of a purchaser without depositing D
25 per cent of the purchase money in the first instance and the
balance within 15 days. When there is no sale within the contempla·
tion of these rules, there can be no question of material irregularity
in the conduct of the sale. Non-payment of the price on the part
of the defaulting purchaser renders the sale proceedings as a E
complete nullity. The very fact that the Court is bound to re-sell
the property in the event of a default shows that the previous
pi oceedings for sale are completely wiped out as if they do not
exist in the eye of law. We hold, therfore, that in the circumstances
of the present case there was no sale and the purchasers acquired
I no rights at all." F
11. Thus, it is settled law that the provisions of Order 21, Rules 84,
85 and 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure are mandatory and the provisions
of Rules 285-D and 285-E being similar in terms of the aforementioned
corressponding provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and in view of G
the aforesaid discussion there is no escape from declaring the sale a nullity
if Rule 285-D is not complied with.

12. The question now remains to be considered is whether the
deposit of 25 per cent of the bid amount by the purchaser respondent No.
1 herein by cheque instead of cash would be a valid deposit within the H
240 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995) 2 S.C.R.

A. meaning of Rule 285-D of the Rules. Admittedly the respondent No. 1 was;
declared purchaser of the property in question on 18.10.1973. According·
to the learned counsel for the appellants neither the deposit of 25 per cent
of the bid amount was made in cash nor by cheque on 18.10.1973 as the
cheque was encashed on 22.10.1973. While according to the learned coun-
B sel appearing for the auction purchaser respondent No. 1 the cheque was
tendered on 18.10.1973 itself which was encashed on 22.10.1973 and the
amount was deposited in the Government treasury on 22.10.1973. The
question is whether such a payment by cheque could be regarded as a valid
deposit within the meaning of Rule 285-D. As discussed above Rule 285-D
is a mandatory rule according to which if 25 per cent of the bid amount is
C not deposited immediately the land shall forthwith be again put up and ,
sold. In other words on the failure of the purchaser to deposit 25 per cent
of the bid amount immediately the land shall be re-sold immediately after
such failure the very same day. If for instance the 25 per cent of the bid
amount is accepted by cheque and subsequently the purchaser changes his
D mind and advises his banker not to encash the cheque or there is no
amount in the account of the purchaser in the bank and the cheque is
bopnced, the purpose of Rule-285-D would be frustrated and thus the
mandatory provision would be rendered nugatory. The result would be that
neither the authorities would be in a position to forfeit any amolint of the
E purchaser not the authority would be in a position to defray the expenses
of the sale as contemplated by Rule 285-E. The other consequence that
. will follow is that the re-sale of land will have to be delayed and a fresh
proclamation for sale. has to be issued as provided by Rule 285-G. It,
therefore, appears to us that Rule 283-D does not contemplate any pay-
F ment by cheque but a cash deposit of 25 per cent of the bid amount has
to be made in accordance with the requirement of the rule, otherwise the
very purpose of the mandatory rule 285-D would be frustrated and. \

rendered nugatory. In these facts and circumstances we are of the view that
deposit of 25 per cent of the bid amount by cheque will not be a valid
tender within the meaning of the rule. This was also the view taken by a
G Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in the case of Hira Lal (supra)
andI the
.
Learned Single' Judge was not right .in ignoring the said view by
observaing that it was obiter. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh in Mis
Prgressivelndustrial Enterprises v. Bank of Baroda, Al.R. (1989) M.P. 177
also expressed the view that deposit of 25 per cent of t!te bid amount by
H cheque which was not encashed on the date on which the person was
RMAHMEDKHANv.RSINGH[FAIZANUDDIN,J.) 241

declared purchaser but on a later date, there was rio compliance of Order A
21 Rule 84 (C) C.P.C.

13. The learned counsel for the auction purchaser, respondent No. 1
placing his reliance on Kirloskar Bros. Ltd. v. /. T. Commissione1; A.LR.
(1952) Bombay 306 =A.LR. (1954) S.C. 429; /. T. Commissioner v. Mis.
Ogale Glass Work Limited, A.l.R. (1966) Madras 435 and Mohidden Bi v. -B
Khatoon Bi and some other decisions vehemently urged that deposit of 25
per cent of the bid amount made by cheque was a valid deposit and in
compliance of Rule 285-D. We have carefully gone through the decisions
relied on by the learned counsel for the respondent No. 1 and find that the
same do not relate, to the consideration of the provisions of Rule 285-D or C
any other provision which may be regarded as pari-materia to Rule 285-D.
The said decisions do not cover the situation at all with which we are
/ concerned in the present appeal and the same are quite distinguishable on
facts as well as on law. The said decisions are, therefore, not helpful in the
present case.
D
14. In the facts and circumstances discussed above the impugned
order of the High Court could not be sustained. The appeal is therefore
allowed. The impugned order of the High Court dated 2.1.1992 passed in
C.M.W.P. No. 9589 of 1985 is set aside and the sale is declared as nullity.
The parties are left to bear their respective costs.
E
V.S.S. Appeal allowed.