TMI Blog2008 (7) TMI 1075X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Evacuee Properties. Later on the said ordinance was substituted by Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 (in short the Act ) and then this property was deemed to have vested in the Custodian as an Evacuee Property under the said Act. The entire property was given in the tenancy of Harnath Chaturvedi and Gurudatt Chaturvedi by order of Addl. Asstt. Custodian in 1949 for which rent was payable at the rate of ₹ 50/- per month by Harnath Chaturvedi with effect from 1.7.1949 and from the same date at the rate of ₹ 25/- per month was payable by Gurudatt Chaturvedi. The portion which was given in the tenancy of Gurudatt Chaturvedi was later on given to Addl. Asstt. Custodian Shri Mehrotra by Asstt. Custodian, Evacuee Property, Agra on 22.9.1953. Shri Mehrotra died. On 18.8.55, this entire property of four bighas one biswa, on which there was a kothi, garden and appurtenant land, was auctioned under the provisions of Displaced Persons (Compensation Rehabilitation) Act 1955 (in short the Displaced Persons Act ) and it was given to the displaced person Tuljaram on the highest bid of ₹ 61,000/-. Tuljaram made payment of that money by adjustment of compensation. A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed a Writ Petition No. 251/62 before the High Court against the rejection of his representation by Managing Officer and against the rejection of his appeal and revision application. The High Court dismissed this Civil Writ Petition on 6.9.62. Against the rejection of Civil Writ Petition by the High Court, Harnath Chaturvedi filed a Special Appeal No.1002 year 1962 in the High Court. This Special Appeal was dismissed by the High Court by order dt. 24.11.1974. During the period of pendency of application under Section 27 of the Act before the Asstt. Custodian General and in the revision application he made a claim on the basis of being a tenant and prayed for the review of the order of vesting as Evacuee Property. In the revision application, Harnath Chaturvedi claimed himself as a tenant only over land measuring two bighas ten biswas out of total land of four bighas one biswa and alleged Abdul Wahid to be his Zamindar. Asstt. Custodian, General Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Lucknow disposed off the said revision application by his order dt. 30.10.1969/ 5.11.1969 and remanded the matter to the Asstt. Custodian for disposal of the claim of Harnath Chaturvedi after hearing him. The Asstt. C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ersons who were brought by him, filed Writ Petition No. 9162/1987 (Lalita Chaturvedi and others V/s The Union Of India and another) and Writ Petition No.9386 of 1987 (Gulab Chand Mittal V/s Union Of India and others). 5. On 10.11.1982, Harnath Chaturvedi made an application before the Custodian Evacuee Property, Uttar Pradesh in respect of property No. 183/195, which is the part comprising of kothi and garden of the total disputed subject matter and which is situated over one bigha eleven biswas and is known as Bagh Farzana, praying therein that the said land be transferred to him and also prayed that the sale deed of this land be executed in favour of Gulab Chand Mittal with whom Harnath Chaturvedi had made an agreement to sell for an amount of rupees twenty lacs. On 11.11.82, Authorised Custodian accepted the prayer of Harnath Chaturvedi and proposed the transfer to Harnath Chaturvedi for rupees sixty one thousand i.e. the amount for auction was accepted in favour of Tuljaram on 18.8.1955. Asstt. Custodian General, duly authorized by Chief Custodian General, approved the said proposal on the same day on 11.11.1982 and for an amount of rupees sixty one thousand, land measuring ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... it. Therefore, the writ petitions nos. 9162 and 9386 of 1987 were held to be without merit and were dismissed. 9. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that there could be no vesting unless interest is separated because of the provisions of the Separation Act. The applications were made under Section 27 of the Act and Section 54 of the Disabled Persons Act. Section 27 applications were in respect of sale of Harnath s property. It is to be noted it was contended that the sale was approved by the Assistant Custodian. In the earlier Special Leave Petition this Court had directed to consider the validity of order dated 11.11.1982 and the consequential order dated 16.11.1982. The High Court stated that there is no indication as to under what provisions of law the order was passed. There was no challenge to the order under Section 22 dated 31.1.1993 and the order in the writ petition noted this position. Therefore it is submitted that the High Court was not justified in saying that there was no jurisdiction to deal with the matter. 10. At this juncture, it is to be noted that there was no dispute that the Custodian had no authority under the Disabled Persons Act. High Court s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... only for the purpose enumerated in sub section (1) there can be transfer or sale, and no such action can be taken without prior or previous approval of the Custodian General. The approval of the Custodian General is to be taken first. This is clear from the expression Previous Approval , before the order is passed. Post facto approval is not sufficient. This procedure was not followed. Tender process was not adopted which would have ensured that the best price was available. If the order dated 30.1.1985 is a nullity further action is of no consequence. 13. In State of A.P. and Anr. v. T. Suryachandra Rao [2005(6) SCC 149] it was observed as follows: By fraud is meant an intention to deceive; whether it is from any expectation of advantage to the party himself or from the ill will towards the other is immaterial. The expression fraud involves two elements, deceit and injury to the person deceived. Injury is something other than economic loss, that is, deprivation of property, whether movable or immovable or of money and it will include and any harm whatever caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or such others. In short, it is a noneconomic or non-pecuniary los ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t. In Webster s Third New International Dictionary fraud in equity has been defined as an act or omission to act or concealment by which one person obtains an advantage against conscience over another or which equity or public policy forbids as being prejudicial to another. In Black s Legal Dictionary, fraud is defined as an intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing belonging to him or surrender a legal right; a false representation of a matter of fact whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of that which should have been disclosed, which deceives and is intended to deceive another so that he shall act upon it to his legal injury. In Concise Oxford Dictionary, it has been defined as criminal deception, use of false representation to gain unjust advantage; dishonest artifice or trick. According to Halsbury s Laws of England, a representation is deemed to have been false, and therefore a misrepresentation, if it was at the material date false in substance and in fact. Section 17 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 defines fraud as act committed by a party to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in commercial transactions nondisclosure of every fact does not vitiate the agreement. In a contract every person must look for himself and ensures that he acquires the information necessary to avoid bad bargain. In public law the duty is not to deceive. (See Shrisht Dhawan (Smt.) v. M/s. Shaw Brothers , (1992 (1) SCC 534). This aspect of the matter has been considered by this Court in Roshan Deen v. Preeti Lal (2002 (1) SCC 100) Ram Preeti Yadav v. U.P. Board of High School and Intermediate Education (2003 (8) SCC 311), Ram Chandra Singh s case (supra), Ashok Leyland Ltd. v. State of T.N . and Another (2004 (3) SCC 1) and State of A.P. Anr. v. T. Suryachandra Rao [ (2005) 6 SCC 149]. Suppression of a material document would also amount to a fraud on the court. (see Gowrishankar v. Joshi Amba Shankar Family Trust (1996 (3) SCC 310) and S.P. Chengalvaraya Naidu s case (supra). Fraud is a conduct either by letter or words, which induces the other person or authority to take a definite determinative stand as a response to the conduct of the former either by words or letter. Although negligence is not fraud but it can be evidence on fraud; as observed in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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