Simhadri
Satya Narayana Rao Vs. M. Budda Prasad & Ors [1990] INSC 400 (21 December 1990)
Kuldip
Singh (J) Kuldip Singh (J) Fathima Beevi, M. (J)
CITATION:
1990 SCR Supl. (3) 701 1994 SCC Supl. (1) 449 1990 SCALE (2)1302 ACT:
HEADNOTE:
JUDGMENT:
The
Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATACHALA, J.- These special leave
petitions are made respecting the judgments in L.P.A. Nos. 11 87
of 1981and 1207 of 1981 of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The
petitioners were owners of certain lands of Burail and Maloya village on the
outskirts of Chandigarh which had been acquired for public purpose pursuant
to notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short
'the Act') published in the local Gazette dated February 1, 1977. The
Land Acquisition Collector by his award under Section II of the Act determined
the market value of the said lands at Rs 16,000 an acre. The District Judge
at Chandigarh who had received the reference under
Section 18 of the Act enhanced the market value of the acquired lands to Rs
34,000 an acre. The High Court before which appeals had been brought by the claimants
seeking grant of enhanced market value for their lands, enhanced the market
value to Rs62,000 an acre following its earlier judgment in similar appeal
being L.P.A. No.1207 of1981.On behalf of the petitioners, in the present
petitions, we were not shown any material on the basis of which the High
Court could have determined the market value of the acquired lands at a rate
in excess of Rs 62,000an acre. Hence, we see no ground to interfere with the judgments
of the High Court and enhance the market value of the acquired lands.
We,
therefore, dismiss these special leave petitions, however without costs.450 SIMHADRI
SATYA NARAYANA RAO V. BUDDA PRASAD (KuldipSingh, J.)The Judgment of the Court
was delivered by KULDIP SINGH, J.-The question for our consideration in this appeal
is whether an election petition under the Representation of the People
Act, 1951 (hereinafter called the 'Act') filed on the reopening of the High Court
after vacations, the period of forty-five days under Section 81 of the Act
having run out during the vacations, was liable to be dismissed under Section
86 of the Act.2.Theelections to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
were held on November 22, 1989. The appellant contested the assembly seat from Avinagoda
constituency. He was declared elected on November 26, 1989. An election 451petition calling
in question the appellant's election could be presented to the Andhra Pradesh
High Court within 45 days from the date of declaration of the election-result
of the appellant. It is not disputed that the said period of forty five days
expired on January 10,
1990. The election
petition, challenging the election of the appellant was, however, filed in the
High Court by the respondents on January 15, 1990.3.
The High
Court of Andhra Pradesh remained closed for Sankranthi vacation from Tuesday,
January 2nd to Friday, January
12th, 1990 (both days
inclusive). January 13 and14, 1990 were holidays being second Saturday and
Sunday. It was under these circumstances that the election petition was filed
on the reopening of the High Court on January 15,1990.4.Theappellant (returned
candidate), filed an application before the High Court praying that the
election petition be dismissed, inter alia, on the ground of limitation. It
was contended that the Act being a complete code for the determination of
election disputes, its provisions have to be strictly complied with and the election
petition filed beyond the period of forty-five days, was liable to be
dismissed under Section 86 read with Section 81 of the Act .It was also
contended that Section 5of the Limitation Act was not applicable, the Registry
of the High Court was open during the Sankranthi vacation, two Assistant
Registrars were on vacation duty, urgent applications were being disposed of
by the vacation Judges and 25 election petitions were in fact filed during the
said vacations.
The
High Court rejected the contentions of the appellant and dismissed the
application. The High Court came to the conclusion that the notification regarding
Sankranthi vacation did not make any distinction between the Court and the
Registry of the High Court. It explicitly stated that the High Court would
remain closed from January2, 1990 to January 12, 1990. Relying upon Section 10 of the General
Clauses Act the High Court found that the filing of the election petition on the
reopening day of the High Courton January 15, 1990 was within limitation. This appeal
via special leave petition is against the judgment of the High Court.5.This Court in Hukumdev Narain Yadav v. Lalit NarainMishra1
and Hari Shanker Tripathi v. Shiv Harsh2 has held that Sections 4 and 5 of the
Limitation Act have no application to the election petitions under the Act. It
was further held, following H.H. Raja Harinder Singh v. S. Karnail Singh3 that
Section 10 of the General Clauses Act would in terms be applicable to the
election petitions under the Act. Section 10(relevant part) is as under:
"10.(1) Where, by any Central Act or Regulation made after the
commencement of this Act, any act or proceeding is directed or allowed to be
done or taken in any Court or office on a certain day or within a
prescribed period, then, if the Court or office is closed on that day or the
last day of the prescribed period, the act or proceeding shall be considered
as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day
afterwards on which the Court or office is open:
Provided
that nothing in that section shall apply to any act or proceeding to which the Indian
Limitation Act, 1877, applies." 1 (1974) 2 SCC 13 3: (1974) 3 SCR 31 2 (1976)
1 SCC 897: 1976 UJ (SC) 242 3 1957 SCR 208: AIR 1957 SC 271: 12 ELR 421 452
6.The learned counsel for the parties have not disputed the legal position
that Sections 4 and 5 of the Limitation Act have no application to the
election petitions under the Act. It is also not disputed that the benefit
of Section 10 of the General Clauses Act can be availed to save limitation under
the Act. But according to the appellant the High Court Registry was open during
Sankranthi vacation and as such the respondent could not invoke the provisions
of Section 10 of the General Clauses Act. 7.Mr C. Sitaramiah, learned counsel
for the appellant has argued that Rule 3 of the Rules framed by the High
Court to regulate the trial of election petitions provides hat every
election petition "shall be filed in the office of the Registrar by the
petitioner or an advocate duly appointed by him". He has also taken us
through the notification dated December29, 1989 issued by the High Court notifying
the Sankranthi vacation. Relying on the contents of the notification he
contended that the High Court Registry remained open during the vacations
and as such in terms of Rule 3 of the High Court Rules election petition
could be presented during the vacations. All the arguments advanced before the
High Court were reiterated.
According
to the learned counsel, not only the High Court Registry was open but even the
vacation Judges sat to dispose of urgent applications. He pointed out that in
fact 25 election petitions were filed during Sankranthi vacation which further
goes to show that the Registry was open. The learned counsel finally contended
that unless there is specific bar in the vacation-notification the election petitions
can always be filed during long vacation.
8.There
are no rules or standing orders issued by the Andhra Pradesh High Court
providing for a uniform pattern of working during the vacations. It is the notification
notifying the Sankranthi vacation which would indicate the manner and extent of
functioning of the High Court during the vacation. Whether the Registry was
open, if so, to what extent and for what type of work, can only be spelled out
from the contents of the notification. It is, therefore, necessary to examine
the scope and effect of the notification issued by the Andhra Pradesh High
Court in this respect. The said notification is as under: NOTIFICATION R.O.C.
No. 5463/89-C3 DATED DECEMBER 29, 1989 Notice is hereby given that the High
Court of Andhra Pradesh will remain closed for Sankranthi Vacation, 1990 from
Tuesday the 2nd January to Friday the 12th January 1990 (both days
inclusive). The Hon'ble Shri Justice N.D. Patnaik will be the Vacation Judge
from January 2, 1990 to January 6, 1990 and the Hon'ble Shri Justice Syed
Shah Mohammed Quadri will be the Vacation Judge from January 7, 1990 to January
12, 1990. The Vacation Judges will sit in Court at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday the 3rd January 1990 and Tuesday the 9th
January 1990 during vacation to dispose of applications of urgent nature unless
otherwise notified. Shri K.V.G. Krishna Murthy and Shri S.Raja Choudary
Assistant Registrars will be the Vacation Officers during the said vacation.
Notice of any application of an urgent nature shall be given to the Vacation
Officers before 1.30
p.m. on Tuesday, 2nd
January and the 8th
January 1990. REGISTRAR (ADMN)" 4539.The first para of the notification, which is
the operative part, states that "the High Court of Andhra Pradesh will
remain closed for Sankranthi vacation,1990from Tuesday the 2nd January to Friday
the 12th January 1990(both days inclusive)". The notification now here states
that the Registry of the High Court would remain open. Notice to the effect
that "the High Court of Andhra Pradesh will remain closed" cannot be
understood by layman-litigantto mean that it would still be open for
filing purposes .After the operative part which declares the closure of the
High Court for Sankranthi vacation, the subsequent paras specifically
indicate the matters which could be filed during the vacation. It is
stated that two Hon'ble Judges would be the vacation Judges for the specified
period and they would dispose of applications of urgent nature. The designation
of two Assistant Registrars as vacation officers and the provision of notice of
urgent applications to the vacation officers a day earlier of sitting of the vacation
Judges, goes to show that the Registry was not function ingin the ordinary
course. A bare reading of the notification leaves no manner of doubt that the
Andhra Pradesh High Court remained closed for all purposes except for
applications of urgent nature for which vacation Judges and vacation officers
were designated. There was no provision for filing of election petitions in
the notification and as such the filing of the election petition by the
respondents on reopening day of the High Court by invoking Section 10 of the
General Clauses Act, was justified.10.InHari Shanker Tripathi v. Shiv
Harsh2 the notification issued by the Allahabad High Court stated that May 25
to July 7, 1974 would be observed as closed holidays in the High Court due to
summer vacation.
The
period for filing the election petition had expired during the summer vacation
and the election petition was filed on there opening day of the High Court
after the summer vacation. This Court held as under: (SCC p. 906, para 12)
"For the reasons given above we are satisfied that as the period of
limitation expired during the summer vacation which was a closed holiday by
virtue of the notification issued by the High Court, the Registrar was not competent
to entertain the election petition nor could the appellant have presented the election
petition legally to the Registrar during such period. We are further
satisfied that this is a case in which Section 10 of the General Clauses Act
applies in terms and the appellant was fully justified in filing the election
petition on the reopening day of the High Court, namely, July 8,
1974."11.We do not agree with the contention of Mr Sitaramiah that in
the absence of any bar in the notification the election petitions under
the Act can be filed during the vacations. It is the vacation notification
which has to be looked up to find out whether the Registry is open for presenting
the election petitions.
The
notification in this case unmistakably stated that the High Court would remain closed
during Sankranthi vacation. No reasonable person would knock the door of the High
Court during that periodfor filing an election petition.12.The Andhra Pradesh High
Court which issued the Sankranthi vacation notification interpreted the same in
the following words: It, therefore, follows that the notification referred to
above, dated December 29, 1989 did not permit either of the Hon'ble Judges or
the Registry to receive the election petitions during the Sankranthi vacation.
As mentioned already, the notification says that the High Court of Andhra 454 Pradesh
will remain closed for the Sankranthi vacation from January 2, 1990 to January
12, 1990 (both days
inclusive). The nomination does not clarify that the Judges of the High Court
alone would refrain from work between January 2, 1990 and January 12, 1990 and that the Registry would function normally during the
said period of vacation. The notification does not even further specify that
the vacation officers are authorised to receive any papers presented to the mother
than notices of applications of urgent nature.
In the
light of the specific wording contained in that notification, I bold that the
High Court of Andhra Pradesh remained closed for the Sankranthi vacation from January 2, 1990 to January 12, 1990 which means that the Registry of the High Court also
remained closed during the said period. It is submitted by the learned counsel
for the petitioners that the High Court Registry was open during the vacation
and received as many as 25 election petitions. It is not necessary in these
applications to consider whether the Registry was competent to receive those 25
election petitions during the vacation. This is not a relevant consideration for
the disposal of these applications. What all is necessary to consider in these
applications is whether in the light of the wording contained in the
notification dated December 29, 1989, the High Court remained closed between
January 2, 1990 to January 12, 1990 so as to enable the election
petitioners to invoke Section 10 of the General Clauses Act.... The learned
counsel for the petitioners referring to the wording contained in Section 10
of the General Clauses Act tried to draw a distinction between the closure of
the 'court' and 'office' on the last day of limitation and tried to submit that
what all has been closed is the High Court but not the office. There is no
scope to draw such an inference from the notification. As I have mentioned
already, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, remained closed for the Sankranthi
vacation and the notification does not give room for any distinction
being made between the court and the office which means the Registry of the
High Court."13.We see no infirmity in the reasoning and the conclusions reached
by the High Court. No other point was urged before us. We, therefore, dismiss
the appeal with no order as to costs. 456
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