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K. Kumara Gupta vs. Sri Markendaya and Sri Omkareswara Swamy Temple & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 207Decided 18 Feb 2022
Civil Appeal Nos. 791-792 of 2022
M.R. Shah · B.V. Nagarathna

Background

In 1998, the Endowments Department conducted an open public auction of temple land (belonging to Sri Markendaya and Sri Omkareswara Swamy Devasthanam), in which 45 people participated. The appellant was the highest bidder at Rs. 13,01,000/- per acre (against a base price of Rs. 4,00,000/-), paid the full sale consideration, and received a registered sale deed with possession. A person named Shri L. Kantha Rao, who had never participated in the auction, then filed a series of representations and writ petitions over the years attempting to have the sale cancelled and the land re-auctioned at a higher price, eventually persuading the government to cancel the sale in 1999. The appellant successfully challenged that cancellation before a Single Judge, but the Temple Trust and Kantha Rao's widow (after his death) appealed to a Division Bench, which ordered a fresh re-auction over two decades after the original sale, prompting the appellant's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Kantha Rao, having never participated in the original auction or made any offer, had no locus standi to challenge the sale, and that his litigation was a private interest dressed up as public interest, not a genuine PIL, citing State of Uttaranchal v. Balwant Singh Chaufal on courts' duty to screen bogus PILs. The Court found no evidence of fraud, collusion, or inadequate pricing in the 1998 auction (which had 45 genuine participants and a bid far above the base price), and held that the property's value must be assessed as of the date of sale, not decades later after appreciation. It also noted procedural defects: the Temple Trust could not challenge its own unchallenged auction decision, and the Government's cancellation order was passed without hearing the appellant. The Division Bench's order for re-auction after 23 years was quashed, the Single Judge's judgment restoring the sale was reinstated, and the appellant was directed to pay a further Rs. 15 lakh (with interest) to the Temple Trust to complete the transaction.

Lesson Learnt

A person who never participated in a public auction has no standing to later challenge it merely because the property's value has since risen, and courts must be vigilant against private grievances masquerading as public interest litigation, especially where reopening a decades-old, fairly-conducted sale would unsettle a bona fide purchaser's rights.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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