Fair public auction and belated objections cannot unsettle a confirmed sale when no bona fide timely offer is made.

A public auction confirmed by the HC was upheld because the sale was conducted after due publicity, fairly and transparently, and no irregularity was shown in the change of date or in the conduct of the auction. The objector was afforded an opportunity to produce a better buyer at the first offered price, but failed to do so within time and later attempted to introduce successive buyers with varying offers after substantial delay. The court found no infirmity in the rejection of belated objections under Rule 60 of the Second Schedule to the Income-tax Act, 1961, and treated the repeated attempts as dilatory rather than bona fide. No interference with the confirmed sale was warranted.

---

---

Issues: Whether the confirmation of the auction sale and the orders of the authorities below suffered from any legal or procedural infirmity warranting interference.

Analysis: The auction was found to have been conducted after due publicity and in a fair and transparent manner, with no irregularity shown in the change of date or in the conduct of the sale. The petitioner was given an opportunity to demonstrate bona fides by producing a better buyer at the price first offered, but he failed to comply within the stipulated time and later sought to introduce successive buyers with varying offers after substantial delay. The challenge also failed to establish any infirmity in the rejection of the belated objections under Rule 60 of the Second Schedule to the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the authorities were justified in treating the repeated attempts as dilatory and not bona fide.

Conclusion: No interference was called for and the confirmation of the auction sale was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a public auction is found to have been conducted fairly and transparently, and the objector fails to make a timely bona fide offer in accordance with the prescribed procedure, belated attempts to introduce successive buyers do not justify setting aside the confirmed sale.

---