Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
M/S. S. A. Enterprise vs The General Manager on 7 November, 2017
Author: Debangsu Basak
Bench: Debangsu Basak
1 7 07.11. W.P. No.26493(W) of 2017 ns 2017 M/s. S. A. Enterprise.
Versus The General Manager, Eastern Railway & Ors. Mr. Kumar Jyoti Tewari, Mr. G. C. Baidya ... For the petitioner. Mrs. Aparna Banerjee ... For the Railways.
Two letters dated October 11, 2017 and October 13, 2017 are under challenge in the present writ petition.
Learned Advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that, the deceased mother of the writ petitioner had participated in a tender process floated by the railway authorities as a sole proprietor of M/s. S.A. Enterprise. The mother of the petitioner died on September 3, 2017. The petitioner had obtained a trade licence in the name of M/s. S.A. Enterprise on October 9, 2017. The petitioner is willing to proceed with the contract as entered into by the deceased mother as the sole proprietor of M/s. S.A. Enterprise and with that the railway authorities on May 29, 2017. He refers to a writing dated October 13, 2017 and submits that, the 2 reasons for cancellation of the tender is frivolous.
The railway authorities are represented. It appears that the M/s. S.A. Enterprise was a sole proprietorship firm of the deceased mother of the petitioner. The mother had died on September 3, 2017. With her death therefore, the sole proprietorship business of such person came to an end. Such person had participated in the tender process of the railways on the basis of the General Conditions of contract of 2014 particularly paragraph 9 of Annexure "P-1" thereof which provides, inter alia, that if a tenderer expires after submission of the tender or after acceptances thereof, the railway shall deem such tender as "cancelled". Such clause has been invoked for the purpose of considering tender obtained by M/s. S.A. Enterprise as "cancelled".
A sole proprietorship does not have perpetual succession. The petitioner cannot claim to be the sole proprietorship firm upon the death of the mother.
Since the mother had participated in the tender process on the explicit condition as contained in the General Conditions of contract, I find no infirmity in the two impugned letters.
WP No.26493(W) of 2017 is dismissed. 3 No order as to costs.
Urgent certified website copies of this order, if applied for, be made available to the parties upon compliance of the requisite formalities.
( Debangsu Basak, J. )