Law: Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance (XIX of 1965)

Section: 25

Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 199

(Constitution of Pakistan (1973)].....Art 199---Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance (XIX of 1965), S.25---Constitutional petition---Public auction---Petitioner, in the present case, participated in auction of attractive vehicle registration numbers conducted by the Director, Excise and Taxation of Provincial Government and gave highest bid for a specific number; bid amount was subject to immediate deposit and this was done by the petitioner; four days later, Secretary, Excise informed him that his auction bid of the specific number along with bids for several other registration numbers had been declined approval by the "Administrative Department" and no reason for such refusal was given in the said order---Validity---Cancellation of auction by a public authority could not be at its whim but had to be with reference to relevant criterion that was set out in the terms of the auction---Reserved price fixed for the registration number under auction could be an effective check on underbidding in the present case---Authorities had applied a criterion of valuation that it chose not to apply in the immediate preceding cases---Inconsistency was a tendency that encouraged arbitrariness---Fact that a public authority might, in its discretion, act one way or the other in respect of Similar cases as had happened in the present case owing to lack of settled criterion characterized such action to be unreasonable---Engagement of a public authority in the holding of public auction involved the exercise of a commercial function---Commercial activity presently being undertaken by the Authorities was the sale of a licence which was type of public property, to private person, and in such cases of sale, there was an additional requirement of transparency as being an active consideration for the scrutiny and evaluation of such proceedings---Requirement of transparency in an auction was not less and could be accomplished primarily when clear terms of the auction were set out and duly notified to interested parties---Such manner shall, in essence, establish predictability of the fate of the auction of a public authority which was particularly important in commercial activities of the…

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