AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (5) TMI 1531
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....n 27/06/1985. The petitioner remitted the entire amount due under the Assessment order on 18/12/2003. The petitioner initiated proceedings for reconveyance of the land. The District Collector refused to the request of the petitioner and directed the petitioner to remit the current market value of the land as contemplated in Government Order No. (MS No. 196/96 RD 22/91. The petitioner, aggrieved by the direction of the District Collector approached this Court in WP (C) No. 34407/2003. This Court directed the petitioner to remit 50%. The petitioner withdrew the writ petition with liberty. The issue in this writ petition is whether the petitioner is entitled for re-conveyance of the land without paying the market value of the land. The Governm....
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....r. Therefore, the only point, which has to be considered by this Court is the legal effect is of the payment effected by the debtor. 4. The restitutional claim would arise against the public authorities or State in numerous circumstances. One of such circumstances is on equitable ground. To allow any claim based on equitable ground, the Court has to look around the conduct of the parties in relation to the transaction. Therefore, the foremost point to consider is the reason for the Government to allow the debtor to discharge his liability. 5. When a sale would extinguish the liability of the debtor, any payment thereafter made towards the discharge of the liability and accepted by the creditor, certainly has to be treated as a separat....
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....hould be given only a limited application by way of defence. It can also be the basis of a cause of action." 7. Section 2(h) of the Indian Contract Act defines a contract as an agreement enforceable by law. Under Section 2(e) every promise and every set of promises, forming the consideration for each other, is an agreement. Section 2(d) defines consideration as follows: "When, at the desire of the promisor, the promise or any other person has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promises to do or to abstain from doing, something, such act or abstinence or promise is called a consideration for the promise." 8. Therefore, the contract is legally valid if a promise is made and consideration is paid pu....
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....ernment to direct payment. Nothing is seen from the record that any such representation has been made on behalf of the Government directing the petitioner to make payment. However, it is not necessary that there should be a representation on the part of the Government or promise to bind the Government to apply principles related to estoppel. As narrated as above, Principle of estoppel is a part of equity. The Court can resort to apply the estoppel to do substantial justice between the parties. 11. The doctrine of proprietary estoppel reinforces the equitable consideration as above. The Proprietary estoppel is defined as follows: "It has recently become fashionable to use the term 'proprietary estoppel" to signify the doctrin....
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.... as a special form of estoppel for the purpose of granting any relief based on proprietary estoppel. 13. In this case the petitioner paid the amount. This was accepted without any demur. The sale was concluded in the year 1985. Therefore, the petitioner's payment cannot be considered as the payment effected in the light of the Government order referred as above. There is no case that the petitioner has committed any fraud on the officials of the Government. No such case was espoused in the counter. Further, the official respondents also have no case that the petitioner made the payment by misrepresentation. It is to be noted that nobody has a case that remittance was under mistake or under compulsion. In such scenario, the only concl....