Anil Narayan vs Travancore Devaswom Board on 24 March, 2022
In Suresan Nair T.S. (supra), the Division Bench
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noticed that, as per Ext.P1 tender notification, once the
kuthaka right is received, an agreement in stamp paper as per
the approved draft shall be entered into within seven days at
the office of the Devaswom concerned. Once the grant of
kuthaka is informed and the person who received kuthaka
remits the first instalment of the kuthaka, he is bound to
scrupulously follow the other conditions in the tender
notification and execute the agreement within the stipulated
time. Having not done the same, he cannot be permitted to
take advantage of avoidance of that obligation and get the
fruits of his refusal to honour the obligation. By refusing to
enter into an agreement and taking advantage of the same,
the petitioners cannot be heard to contend that there is no
concluded contract and they are not liable to pay the auction
amount. It is trite that, where an obligation is cast on a party
and he commits a breach of such obligation, he cannot be
permitted to take advantage of such situation. This is based
on the Latin maxim 'commodum ex injuria sua nemo habere
debet' (no party can take undue advantage of his own wrong).
Therefore, the Division Bench held that, the petitioners cannot
contend that there is no binding contract between the
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petitioners and the Travancore Devaswom Board or that the
tenders are liable to be cancelled. Their contention that they
are not liable to deposit the bid amount and that they are
entitled to get back the amount already deposited cannot be
sustained.