Patna High Court
Naraina Group Of Institutions vs The State Of Bihar And Ors on 17 February, 2025
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17059 of 2017
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Naraina Group Of Institutions Son of Shri Ramadhir Dixit, resident of 1080
B-Block, Ground Floor, Gangaganj, P.O.- Panki, P.S.- Panki, District- Kanpur.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State Of Bihar and Ors
2. The Secretary, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Welfare Department,
Bailey Road, Patna.
3. The Director, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Welfare Department,
Bailey Road, Patna.
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Abhinav Srivastava, Advocate
: Mr. Raushan, Advocate
: Mr. Sahil Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr.Prashant Pratap -Gp2
: Mr. Shadwal Harsh, AC to GP. 2
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CORAM: HONOURABLE JUSTICE SMT. G. ANUPAMA CHAKRAVARTHY
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 17-02-2025
1. The Writ petition is filed for the following
reliefs:-
i. Issuance of a direction,
order or writ, including writ in the
nature of mandamus commanding
the concerned authorities under the
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribe Department, Government of
Bihar, (hereinafter referred to as
"the Department") for refund of Rs.
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
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5,00,000/- submitted as security
deposit and interest upon it, in view
of the fact that no Memorandum of
Understanding was singed between
the petitioner institute pursuant to
an office order dated 28.07.2015
issued by the Secretary of the
Department by which the Institution
was provisionally empanelled for
the year 2015-2016 for the purpose
of imparting professional &
vocational training/courses to SC &
ST students and the name of the
Institution was included at Serial
No. 281 under the said department
of the State Government.
ii. Any other relief/reliefs
that the petitioner may be found to
be entitled to in the facts and
circumstances of the present case.
2. The petitioner institute is duly
incorporated in India and has its registered office at
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, with a branch office at Patna.
The institution admits students and imparts
education in various technical and professional
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
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subjects. In the year 2015, an Expression of Interest
was issued by the Director of the Department for the
empanelment of private institutions, having
residential status outside Bihar i.e. to offer technical,
vocational, and professional courses to empower the
SC & ST communities for the Post-Matric Scholarship
Scheme which was implemented through the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The
term of reference was also provided with the
document that demonstrated the cause covered,
eligibility criteria, document required to be furnished
by institutions, the eligibility of students for getting
Post-Matric scholarships under the scheme, and the
deadlines for submission of expression of interest
with the prescribed fees. The petitioner institute
submitted an application form by its letter dated
13.06.2015
, along with all relevant documents and
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
the prescribed fee amount including the demand
draft, which was received by the Department on
15.06.2015. The Department duly accepted the
petitioner's application, and the name of the
petitioner's institute was published at Serial No. 338
in the list. Subsequently, an Office Order dated
28.07.2015 was issued by the Secretary of the
Department, containing a provisional list of the
empanelled institutions, in which the petitioner
institute was included at Serial No. 281. Furthermore,
the Office Order disclose that institutions were
required to submit a consent along with a security
deposit of Rs. 5,00,000/- on or before 03.08.2015 by
10:00 AM. Accordingly, the petitioner institute
submitted a demand draft of Rs. 5,00,000/- dated
03.08.2015 along with the application form vide
letter dated 04.08.2015. After the empanelment of
the Institution, the Department was required to sign
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
a Memorandum of Understanding with the petitioner
institute for a period of four years and to provide
selected SC/ST students for admission to various
courses, under the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme,
Government of India.
3. The contents of the writ petition further
disclose that, despite the lapse of two years of the
empanelment, neither Memorandum of
Understanding was signed with the institution, nor
the security deposit was returned to the institution.
The petitioner institute submitted several
representations to the Department, but to no avail.
Consequently, the petitioner was constrained to
approach this Court under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India, seeking relief for the return of
Rs. 5,00,000/- along with interest.
4. A detailed counter affidavit was filed by
Respondent No. 2, denying all the allegations in the
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
writ petition. The counter affidavit discloses that, as
per the report received from the DWO, Patna, vide
Letter No. 88 dated 09.04.2018, the payment of
scholarships for the session 2016-17 under
committed liability til the completion of the course
has been made. It is also averred that since the
course of the eligible concerned students of the
aforesaid institution was completed, the due
scholarship for the session 2016-17 has been paid,
hence the claim of the petitioner institute for a
refund of Rs. 5,00,000/- submitted as empanelment
amount is under active consideration and the same
is likely to be settled.
5. A supplementary counter affidavit on
behalf of Respondents No. 1, 2, and 3 was filed on
3rd September 2024, which also discloses that the
petitioner's claim for a refund of Rs. 5,00,000/-,
submitted as the empanelment amount/security
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
deposit, is under active consideration at the
Department level. Furthermore, as per the
departmental letter contained in Memo No. 2576
dated 09.05.2024, the claim of the petitioner for the
refund of Rs. 5,00,000/-, submitted as the
empanelment amount/security deposit, has been
settled, and the said amount was credited to the
account of the petitioner institute upon receipt of
wanting of the necessary documents. Additionally,
the supplementary counter affidavit discloses that,
to expedite the refund process of the said amount,
one official from the Department was deputed as
special messenger by a Departmental Order issued
under Memo No. 2032 dated 12.04.2024. This action
necessitated after several letters and reminders,
earlier sent to the institute. Therefore, the
respondents prayed for the dismissal of the writ
petition.
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
6. The 2nd supplementary counter affidavit of
Respondents No. 1, 2, and 3, dated 15.01.2025,
further discloses that, according to Departmental
Order No. 2473 dated 28.07.2015, as outlined in the
conditions of empanelment for Post-Matric
Scholarship Scheme, several institutions, including
the petitioner institute, deposited a security amount
of Rs. 5,00,000/- for empanelment. The conditions
under Clause-6 of the Conditions of Empanelment
clearly state that this amount would not be refunded
for four years and no interest would be payable on
the deposited amount. In the year 2017, the
petitioner institute filed the present writ petition for
the return of the security deposit that too at a very
premature stage.
7. Further, the Department issued a series of
letters to the petitioner institute requesting the
necessary documents for the refund of Rs. 5,00,000/-
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
security deposit. Due to the non-receipt of the
required information, a Departmental Order No. 2032
dated 12.04.2024 was issued, assigning an officer to
visit the concerned institute to collect the necessary
documents. The collection was successfully
completed on 18.04.2024. Following the receipt of
the necessary documents and the bank account
details from the petitioner institute, the Department
issued Letter No. 2576 dated 09.05.2024, instructing
the State Bank of India, Irrigation Bhawan, Patna, to
transfer Rs. 5,00,000/- empanelment amount to the
institute's account. Accordingly, the bank completed
the transfer.
8. Heard the Learned counsel for the
petitioner as well as the Learned counsel for the
respondents. Perused the record.
9. It is the contention of the Learned counsel
for the petitioner that they have received the
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
security amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- but the
respondents has not paid the interest on the said
amount.
10. In response, the Learned counsel for the
respondents submitted that, as per Clause-6 of the
Conditions of Empanelment, the security deposit
shall be returned only after four years, after
deducting the counseling charges. Clause-6 further
specifies that no interest whatsoever shall be
payable to the institution. Moreover, the petitioner
filed the writ petition within two years from the date
of empanelment. Since the four-year period had not
been completed, the question of returning the
security deposit did not arise at that stage.
11. It is also contended by the learned
counsel for the respondents that, despite sending
several letters to the petitioner requesting the
required information, the petitioner failed to provide
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
the necessary documents to the Department, which
resulted in the delay. The delay did not occur due to
any fault of the Department, and therefore, the
question of paying interest on Rs. 5,00,000/- security
deposit does not arise.
12. On considering the entire material on
record, it is evident that the petitioner institute was
empaneled along with other institutions. As per the
scheme, a Memorandum of Understanding was to be
executed into between the Department and the
institution, however, no such Memorandum of
Understanding was executed for a period of two
years. Neither the writ petition nor the counter
affidavit disclose the reasons why the Memorandum
of Understanding could not be entered into by the
parties.
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
13. The writ petition was filed seeking a
refund of Rs. 5,00,000/- security deposit along with
the interest. As per Clause-6 of the Empanelment
Conditions, the amount was to be refunded only after
a period of four years. The empanelment took place
on 28.07.2015, and the writ petition was filed on
20.11.2017. At that time, the four-year period had
not yet concluded. As per Clause-6, the amount was
to be refunded only after four years, and the said
period was set to conclude on 28.07.2019.
Furthermore, the counter affidavit disclose that the
respondents addressed multiple letters to the
petitioner, and the initial letter was sent on
13.09.2019, followed by letters dated 20.09.2022,
20.07.2023, and 27.09.2023, seeking certain details
and necessary documents from the petitioner for the
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
refund of Rs. 5,00,000/- security deposit. Despite
this, the petitioner institution did not respond, due to
which the respondents were constrained to assign an
officer vide Letter Order No. 2032 dated 12.04.2024.
The said officer approached the petitioner institution
and was able to obtain the required documents only
on 18.04.2024.
14. Therefore, this Court is of the considered
view that the delay was not on the part of the
respondent but occurred due to the petitioner's
failure to submit the required documents.
Consequently, the petitioner cannot claim any
interest on the security deposit of Rs. 5,00,000/-.
15. However, the petitioner has received the
initial security deposit of Rs. 5,00,000/- from the
respondents, which has been duly transferred to the
Patna High Court CWJC No.17059 of 2017 dt.17-02-2025
petitioner's bank account. Therefore, the writ
petition, insofar as it pertains to the claim for
interest, cannot be considered as discussed supra.
16. With the above said observation, the
Writ petition is disposed off.
17. Interlocutory Application(s), if any, shall
also disposed of.
(G. Anupama Chakravarthy, J)
amitkr/-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE N/A
Uploading Date 07.03.2025.
Transmission Date N/A
