Conditional auction bids create no binding sale until confirmation, so resale deficiency cannot be imposed after rejection.

Where auction terms make the highest bid subject to confirmation by a competent authority, no concluded contract arises on the fall of the hammer. The bidder's acceptance remains conditional, and the offer may be withdrawn until confirmation. Liability for deficiency on resale applies only after a completed sale or an accepted bid under the statutory scheme. As the Chief Commissioner rejected the bid before confirmation, no binding contract of sale came into existence and the bidder was not liable for the resale deficiency.

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Issues: Whether the highest bid at the excise auction created a binding contract and made the bidder liable for the deficiency on resale, notwithstanding the Chief Commissioner's power to confirm or reject the bid.

Analysis: The auction conditions and the relevant excise rules showed that the sale was not complete merely on the fall of the hammer. The bid remained subject to confirmation by the Chief Commissioner, who could reject it without assigning reasons. Until such confirmation, the bidder's acceptance was conditional and the offer could be withdrawn. The provisions dealing with deposit by a person to whom a shop has been sold, and the recovery of deficiency after resale, applied only where there was a completed sale or an accepted bid under the statutory scheme. Since the Chief Commissioner disapproved the bid, the essential prerequisites of a concluded sale were absent.

Conclusion: The bidder was not liable for the resale deficiency, because no binding contract of sale had come into existence before confirmation.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the decision in favour of the respondent was sustained, as the auction bid did not mature into an enforceable sale until confirmed by the Chief Commissioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Where acceptance of the highest bid at an auction is expressly made subject to confirmation by a competent authority, no concluded contract arises until such confirmation, and no liability for deficiency on resale can be imposed on the bidder if the bid is rejected before confirmation.

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