Public interest does not dispense with legal authority

BIADA allotted an industrial plot after an auction. The State later sought the plot for IIT Patna facilities. BIADA cancelled the allotment on public-interest grounds. The allottee argued that no statutory power for cancellation had been identified. Public interest is important but does not itself create legal authority. A public body must act within its enabling statute and rules. The Court reviewed the cancellation in that legal framework. The impugned appellate judgment was set aside. Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority & Ors. v. M/s Scope Sales Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. | 2026 INSC 89