Delhi High Court - Orders
Delhi Brotherhood Society vs Department Of Social Welfare & Anr on 23 July, 2021
Author: Rekha Palli
Bench: Rekha Palli
$~18
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 6879/2021 & CM APPL. 21767/2021 (stay)
DELHI BROTHERHOOD SOCIETY ..... Petitioner
Through Mr. Vivek Gupta, Adv.
versus
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE & ANR.
..... Respondents
Through Mr. Anupam Srivastav, Adv. , ASC
for GNCTD with Ms. Divya Joshi, Adv.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI
ORDER
% 23.07.2021 CM APPLs. 21768-69/2021 (Exemptions)
1. Exemptions allowed, subject to all just exceptions
2. The applications stand dispose of.
W.P.(C) 6879/2021
3. This writ petition has been filed by Delhi Brotherhood Society, a non- profit voluntary organisation registered under the Societies Act, 1860 which has been involved in spearheading various welfare programmes. The petitioner Society and respondent no.1 executed an agreement on 27.07.2009 which vested the petitioner Society with the exclusive right, license and authority to operate, maintain and manage the Old Age Home for Senior Citizens at Lampur for a concession period of ten years w.e.f. 27.07.2009; in return, the respondent no.1 was required to release a grant in Signature Not Verified Signed By:GARIMA MADAN Location: Signing Date:26.07.2021 16:10:01 favour of the petitioner, for maintenance of its residents. The petitioner alleges that during the entire concession period, at several points, the respondents failed to honour their obligation to pay petitioner the grant money. In fact, the petitioner had previously taken up the matter before a Sole Arbitrator, which ended up in a settlement dated 07.04.2017 between the parties whereunder the respondent no.1 paid a settlement amount of Rs. 31,20,559/- to the petitioner towards amounts due as grant money. However, the petitioner claims that no grant money was paid to it after that, which led to it sending a letter to the respondent no.1 on 17.02.2021, requesting for release of grants for the preceding five years. The present petition has come to be filed against this background - it transpires that the respondent no.1, on 14.07.2021, sent a communication/order to the petitioner informing it that all the residents of the Lampur Old Age Home were to be shifted to the Old Age Home at Wazirpur, and that, therefore, the petitioner's contract with respondent no.1 automatically stands terminated and would no longer exist.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that a crucial aspect of the agreement executed between the parties on 27.07.2009 was contained in Clause 3.2 which vested the petitioner, at the end of the concession period, the right of first refusal in the event the respondents invited fresh bids for management of the Old Age Home in question, provided the petitioner Society participated in the tender as well. He submits that the petitioner apprehends that in case the respondent no.1 is permitted to effect the transfer of the Lampur Old Age Home residents to the Wazirpur Home, the agreement between the parties would come to an end. The respondents, after dispensing with the petitioner in this manner, may then proceed to engage another agency to run the Lampur Old Age Home without granting the Signature Not Verified Signed By:GARIMA MADAN Location: Signing Date:26.07.2021 16:10:01 petitioner its contractually vested pre-emptory right of refusal.
5. In response, Mr. Anupam Srivastava, learned ASC appearing on advance notice on behalf of the respondent submits that nothing in the impugned order indicates any intention of the respondent to engage another agency for managing the Old Age Home at Lampur.
6. After some arguments, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he does not press the present petition. However, he prays for a clarification from this Court that in case the respondents were to engage any other agency for management of the Lampur Old Age Home, they will make sure to adhere to the terms and conditions of the agreement dated 27.07.2009.
7. In view of the aforesaid, the petition is dismissed as not pressed. It is, however, clarified that in case the respondents intend to engage any other agency for management of the Lampur Old Age Home, the residents whereof are being presently shifted under the impugned order to the Old Age Home at Wazirpur, the respondent will take into consideration the terms and conditions of its Agreement with the petitioner dated 27.07.2009. In case the respondents fail to adhere to this condition, the petitioner shall be at liberty to institute appropriate action against them in accordance with the law.
REKHA PALLI, J JULY 23, 2021 acm Signature Not Verified Signed By:GARIMA MADAN Location: Signing Date:26.07.2021 16:10:01