In Brief
A property owner's bid of Rs. 18,050 per square meter was the highest in an initial auction where the reserve price was set at Rs. 17,248. The Parishad rejected all bids as not representing true market value and held a re-auction at a higher reserve of Rs. 27,104. The Supreme Court found the Parishad had erred by setting inadequate reserve prices and providing insufficient national-level publicity. With only two bidders participating and their bids increasing dramatically in re-auction, the Court ordered a fresh auction with expert-determined reserve price, wide publicity in national newspapers, and refunded deposits to both previous participants at 6% interest.
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