State
of Maharashtra Vs.
Public Concern for Governance Trust & Ors [2007] Insc 3 (4 January 2007)
Dr.
AR. Lakshmanan & Altamas Kabir (Arising
out of S.L.P. (Civil) No. 18965 of 2006) WITH CIVIL APPEAL NO. 15 OF 2007
(Arising out of S.L.P. (Civil) No. 2707 of 2006) Vinay Mohan Lal .... Appellant
(s) Versus State of Maharashtra & Ors. .... Respondent(s) Dr. AR.Lakshmanan,
J.
CIVIL
APPEAL NO. 14 OF 2007 (Arising out of S.L.P. (Civil) No. 18965 of 2006) Leave
granted.
The
appellant State of Maharashtra has filed the above appeal from the judgment
and order of the Bombay High Court dated 23.05.2005 only for the purpose of
expunging certain remarks made by the High Court, inasmuch as the same may
affect the working and functioning of the office of the Chief Minister of the
State of Maharashtra.
BACKGROUND
FACTS:
The
City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is an authority constituted
under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act) for
development of Navi Mumbai as a township.
CIDCO
grants plots in Navi Mumbai for construction and development under the MRTP Act
read with prevalent development control regulations for Navi Mumbai. There are
detailed regulations and procedures for allotment of land by CIDCO to various
entities.
Five different
applications were made by respondent Nos. 5 to 10 to the then Chief Minister of
Maharashtra who was also the Minister for Urban
Development. All business of Urban Development Department was under the control
of the Minister for urban development.
The
then Chief Minister in turn noted on five of the said applications the words
"please put up". Since the authority concerned i.e. CIDCO was
required to process the same, the said applications were forwarded to the new
town development authority i.e. CIDCO for further processing. No other or
further endorsement of any nature whatsoever was made on any of the said files
in relation to the said applications by the Chief Minister. Thus, except for
the original noting "please put up", no other noting, direction or
order had been made or passed on any of the said files by the Chief Minister. A
6th application though addressed to the Chief Minister, no endorsement
whatsoever was made by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on the said file. The said file at no stage reached the
office of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The role of the Chief Minister ended on his endorsing five out of six
files with the noting "please put up".
The
said six applications were processed by CIDCO and CIDCO made allotments of land
to the six cooperative housing societies.
Public
Interest Litigation No. 43 of 2005 was filed in the Bombay High Court
challenging the allotments to the six Cooperative Housing Societies.
The
Bombay High Court, after calling the files of CIDCO relating to the allotment,
by its judgment dated 23.11.2005 set aside the allotments. In the judgment
dated 23.11.2005, the Bombay High Court on its own conclusions and
interpretations of the file notations without calling for any explanation, made
certain unwarranted observations as regards the making of the application to
the then Chief Minister as also the notation "please put up" made by
the then Chief Minister in the five applications. The High Court in fact made a
complete factual error in observing that a notation on the application of
respondent No. 10 "please process and pass by 12th April, 2004" was
made by the then Chief Minister when in fact, no such endorsement was made by
the then Chief Minister.
In the
impugned order dated 23.11.2005, the Bombay High Court made the following
observations against the then Chief Minister which, according to the appellant State
of Maharashtra, are unwarranted:- "i) "When we look into these
documents, what we find is that the letters of application titled "Request
for allotment" by respondent Nos. 5 to 9 societies are computer
print-outs. All the letters are undated. All of them are addressed to the then
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Sushilkumar Shinde and not to CIDCO which as
a statutory Corporation, is a separate competent legal entity. Each of them
bears the endorsement of the Chief Minister "please put up" dated
21st February 2004" (para 23) ii) "It is seen that Co-operative
Housing Societies stated to be having different names and different addresses
in far off areas have all sought to apply for allotment by writing identical
letters on the same day, not to CIDCO but to the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra"
(para 25) iii) The application of respondent No. 10 has been made separately.
It is also undated. It is received initially on 5th April 2004 and bears
endorsement of the Chief Minister dated 5th April, 2004 "Please process
and pass by 12th April, 2004" (para 27) iv) "Neither the then Chief
Minister nor the Marketing Manager nor the Managing Director of CIDCO are seen
to have made any query in spite of this astonishing similarity of approach of
these six societies coming from different parts of the city. Strangely enough,
their response to these identical applications is also astonishingly
identical" (para 28) v) It is esoteric how promoters of societies of such
members initially applied not to CIDCO but to the Chief Minister whose office
finds no place in the MRTP Act or the aforesaid Rules filed for grant of any
plot of CIDCO". (para 38) vi) "It is not known how he became the
Chief Promoter of the said Society which applied later than the other societies
and whose application was not only directed to be put up by the then Chief
Minister but to be put up by a specific date within a week of the application
having been made and even before its copy was received by the Managing Director
of CIDCO" (para 79) vii) The Chief Minister endorsed on five of them to
the Managing Director to "please put up" and on the sixth to process
and pass by the specified date" (para 134) viii) "Would the Managing
Directors and the officers of CIDCO have entertained these applicants who are
principally slum dwellers for the prime plot known as "Marine Drive of Navi
Mumbai". If they were to approach them without being led by these traders
and supported by a builder and without the blessing of the Chief Minister? (para
139)" Mr. G.E. Vahanvati, learned Solicitor General of India and Mr. Ravi Kadam,
learned Advocate General for the State of Maharashta have appeared and argued
the matter on behalf of the appellant. Mr. Chander Uday Singh, learned senior
counsel appeared and countered the argument of the appellant on behalf of the
contesting Ist respondent. Mr. Altaf Ahmed, learned senior counsel appeared for
the CIDCO.
The
learned Solicitor General argued the matter at length and invited our attention
to the strictures and remarks made by the High Court against the then Chief
Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde and the documents at page Nos.
139, 141, 145, 147 and 149 and also the pleadings and other annexures.
Learned
Solicitor General submitted that the present appeal was filed only for the
limited purpose of expunging certain remarks made by the High Court against the
then Chief Minister who was not even a party to the case and without calling
for an explanation. He also submitted that it is not correct on the part of the
Court to call for the files, pursue the same and make observations on its own
understanding and interpretation of the notings in the file without calling for
any explanation from the person making the noting or the concerned department.
He would further submit that it was not proper and correct on the part of the
High Court to draw adverse inference on certain endorsement made by the then
Chief Minister without any reference to the State or the then Chief Minister
who was not even a party to the case and without calling for an explanation.
According to the learned Solicitor General, the file notings such as please put
up are made in the usual day to day functioning of the office of the Chief
Minister and various other offices and, therefore, the observation of the High
Court against the then Chief Minister will affect the functioning of the Chief
Minister and, therefore, it is not fair and justified.
Learned
Solicitor General also cited the following rulings of this Court in support of
his contention. They are :-
-
Dr. Dilip Kumar Deka
& Anr. vs. State of Assam & Anr., (1996) 6 SCC 234 (paras 6, 7 &
8).
-
Rajiv Ranjan
Singh 'Lalan' (VIII) & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors., (2006) 6 SCC 613
at 645 (para 57)
-
Dr. J.N. Banavalikar
vs. Municipal Corporation of Delhi & Anr., 1995 Suppl.(4) SCC 89 (para 21).
-
S. Pratap Singh
vs. The State of Punjab, (1964) 4 SCR 733 at 747 (para 2).
-
A.K.K. Nambiar
vs. Union of India & Anr. 1969 (3) SCC 864
at 867 (para 8 & 9).
Mr. Chander
Uday Singh, learned senior counsel for the first respondent (writ petitioner)
submitted that the first respondent filed the writ petition by way of PIL in
order to expose a massive and orchestrated scam by which CIDCO a special
planning authority constituted under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning
Act, 1966 has diverted public lands intended for genuine cooperative housing
societies to a small coterie of commercial builders/developers and thereby
conferred massive commercial largesse upon such builders/developers while
simultaneously causing losses to CIDCO and the members of the general public.
According to him, small coteries of builders/developers approached the then
Chief Minister of Maharashtra and by addressing applications directly to him in
the name of societies on identical or suspiciously similar computer generated
stationery/letter heads made specific requests for allotment of prime plots of
land by expressly mentioning the plot or plots desired by them and that the
Chief Minister endorsed each such application with the words "please put
up" and thereupon these applications were hand delivered to CIDCO's Head
Office at Nariman Point, Mumbai and that these applications were assigned
inward numbers thereby signifying that they are recommended by the Chief
Minister and on the very same date, when they were received by CIDCO at Nirmal,
the Vice Chairman and M.D. added their endorsements reading please process
early or words to that effect. He would further submit that the Chief
Minister's recommendation proved so compelling that CIDCO instantly allotted
the chosen plots for residential user even though the classification and
earmarking of these plots was commercial plus residential on the development
plan of CIDCO thereby causing loss to CIDCO of the much higher premium
available on C+R lands. It was submitted by learned senior counsel for the
respondent that the High Court pronounced a detailed and well-reasoned judgment
which dealt with the entire subterfuge resorted to in order to make such dummy
allotments at the behest of the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and have
been dealt with in great detail by the Division Bench. He further submitted
that the first respondent filed the writ petition in the High Court since there
had been violations of law as well as of CIDCO's land allotment policy, inter alia,
in making allotments to cooperative societies and that the first respondent had
learnt that these allotments had been made on the basis of the recommendations by
the then Chief Minister or other High functionaries acting at his behest and
that all rules and norms had been disregarded by CIDCO as a consequence of such
recommendations. Respondent No. 1 accordingly pleaded in para 4 and 14 of the
writ petition that it appeared that these illegal allotments had been made at
the behest of the Chief Minister or other Ministers of the Government of Maharashtra
and in para 14 have specifically called upon CIDCO to confirm or deny this
fact.
According
to the first respondent, it is apparent from the documents produced before the
High Court and the manner in which allotments were made by CIDCO that this was
done only on the behest of the then Chief Minister. Learned senior counsel for
the first respondent further submitted that the special leave petition was
filed to seek expunction of certain adverse comments made against the former
Chief Minister of Maharashtra was filed by the State of Maharashtra and not by Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde.
According to the learned counsel, it is not open to the State of Maharashtra to
now file a special leave petition to challenge the said findings or remarks and
that if at all anybody is aggrieved by the said finding or remarks, it would be
the former Chief Minister and he had chosen not to file any special leave
petition nor to question the same. Hence, the present special leave petition is
not maintainable. While winding up his argument, learned senior counsel for the
first respondent made a prayer that he would now implead the then Chief Minister
of Maharashtra - Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde as a party respondent and that
permission in that regard may be granted to him in view of the importance of
the public interest litigation.
We
have given our anxious and careful consideration to the submissions made by
both the learned senior counsel. We have also carefully perused the pleadings,
documents, annexures and the rulings cited at the time of hearing.
Various
applications and representations on diverse subjects are received by the Chief
Ministers of the States as the Head of the State and in respect of the
Ministries under their control. Often such applications are directly addressed
by members of the public to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister then
endorses the same to the concerned department so that the same my subsequently
be followed up by the concerned department. When the Chief Minister is on tour
in various parts of the State, representations and applications are given to
him by various people who meet him. In the routine course, the Chief Minister
endorses the same with a noting "please put up" and forward the same
to the concerned department. Such notation merely means that the concerned
department should process the applications and representations lawfully and in
accordance with certain prescribed procedure. While making such notations on
the representations/applications so received, the Chief Minister does not analyse
each and every case since this is to be done at the level of the concerned
department which then scrutinizes the same in accordance with law. In our view,
the notation is not even treated as a determination of eligibility or the merit
of the concerned application. It is a routine notation made in the normal
course and is really an action of forwarding to the concerned department the
representations/applications received by the Chief Minister.
The
concerned department is then expected to examine the said
representations/applications and decide the same on its own merits and in
accordance with law. As rightly pointed out by learned Solicitor General as to
how he treats the file the nomenclature given to such matters are of matters of
internal administration of the concerned department/corporation.
It is
pointed out to us that in the present case, the Chief Minister was heading the
Urban Development Department.
CIDCO
comes under the administrative control of the said department. Since
applications for allotment of land were received by the Chief Minister, he
merely made a notation that the applications be put up before the concerned
authority. No notation whatsoever was made that the applications be processed
by any particular date. The words please put up, in our opinion, only meant
that the applications should be processed and decided in accordance with law
and on its own merits. CIDCO which is a Corporation had detailed rules which
govern the allotment of land and are to be complied with by CIDCO before any
allotment of land is made. The records placed before us indicates that the
applications put up to CIDCO were processed at various levels including the
marketing manager, assistant marketing officer, managing director and upto the
stage of board of directors.
In our
view, the observations and strictures made by the High Court and are extracted
in paragraphs supra certainly reflects on the functioning of the office of the
Chief Minister and day-today discharge of the duties of the Chief Minister.
As
rightly pointed out by learned Solicitor General, after the endorsement 'please
put up', is made the file may or may not be approved by the concerned
department and it is clear that the said notations are not approval of the
contents of the representation and in our view, no other meaning could be
taken. The observations/strictures made and the inference drawn by the High
Court from the notation please put up made by the Chief Minister are not
warranted and are required to be expunged as rightly contended by learned
senior counsel for the State of Maharashtra. The High Court has, in our view,
erred in holding that by making a notation please put up the applicants had
blessings of the then Chief Minister. In our opinion, the civil appeal at the
instance of the State of Maharashtra is maintainable inasmuch as the
observations and strictures made by the High Court shall affect the working and
functioning of the office of the Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra. The submission of learned senior
counsel for the first respondent that the first respondent had learnt that
these averments had been made on the basis of the recommendations by the Chief
Minister or other high functionaries acting at his behest and that all the
rules and norms had been disregarded by CIDCO as a consequence of such
recommendations as absolutely no basis whatsoever. The grievances expressed
against the then Chief Minister is nothing but imaginary. Except making the
endorsement 'please put up' the Chief Minister has not played any other role.
The observations and strictures passed by the High Court against the then Chief
Minister behind his back and without calling for an explanation from him is
wholly illegal, incorrect and unwarranted and that the remarks made by the High
Court against the then Chief Minister was most uncharitable and not called for.
We
have perused the documents at page Nos. 139, 141, 143, 145, 147 and 149. At
page 139, an application was made on behalf of Seaquan Cooperative Housing
Society, Bombay requesting for allotment of
residential plot for housing society at Sector-4, Plot No.24-B, Nerul. The said
application was addressed to Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde, the then Chief Minister
of the Maharashtra State. It was stated in the said application that CIDCO may allot
the plot for residential purposes as per prevailing rules and that the
applicants are ready to pay the necessary lease premium as per the rules and
regulations. Since the application was made directly to the Chief Minister, he
made an endorsement please put up on the same. At page 141, another application
was made by Amey Cooperative Housing Society, Bombay requesting for allotment
of residential plot at Sector-4, Plot No. 24-A, Nerul addressed to the then
Chief Minister. Similar endorsement 'please put up' was made by the Chief
Minister on this application. At page 143, a similar application was made by Sagarika
Cooperative Housing Society requesting for allotment of residential plot
addressed to the Chief Minister who made an endorsement saying 'please put up'.
At page 145, Sealink Cooperative Housing Society made an application requesting
for allotment of residential plot addressed to the Chief Minister who made an
endorsement 'please put up'. An application was made at page 147 by Sea-view
Cooperative Housing Society addressed to the then Chief Minister who also made
an endorsement saying 'please put up'. At page 149, an application made for
allotment of developed land for residential purpose was made by Vinayak
Cooperative Housing Society addressed to the then Chief Minister. The said
application, though addressed to the Chief Minister, no endorsement whatsoever
was made by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on the said file. The said file at no stage reached the office of the
Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The role of the Chief Minister
ended on his endorsing 5 out of 6 files with the noting 'please put up'.
Thereafter,
the said 6 applications as per the records made available at the time of
hearing were processed by CIDCO and CIDCO made allotment of lands to the said 6
Cooperative Housing Societies. These allotments were challenged in PIL No.43 of
2005 on various grounds. The High Court, after calling for the file of CIDCO
relating to the said 6 allotments and perusing the same, by its judgments and
order dated 23.11.2005 set aside the same. Challenging the said judgment Amey
Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. filed special leave petition No.336 of 2006
questioning the correctness of the said judgment and the allotments made by
CIDCO with which we are not concerned in this Civil Appeal. Elaborate and
lengthy submissions were made in that case by the Senior Counsel appearing for
the respective parties. The said special leave petition No. 336 of 2006 will
separately be dealt with on merits by a separate judgment.
We are
of the opinion that the strictures/observations/remarks made by the High Court
against the then Chief Minister Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde is not warranted in
the facts and circumstances of this case as according to us the High Court has
erred in making observations as regards notations made in files which
observations are made on their own reading and interpretation of the files without
any further reference to the petitions or the then Chief Minister who was not
even a party to the case and without even calling for an explanation in that
regard. The High Court has failed to notice that the Chief Minister was heading
the Urban Development Department and CIDCO comes under the administrative
control of the urban development and since the applications for allotment of
land were received by the Chief Minister, who merely made a notation that the
application be put up before the concerned authority. The High Court also erred
in observing that the application made by respondent No. 10 had been received
by the Chief Minister and bore his endorsement on 05.04.2005 to the effect
please process and pass by 12.04.2004. We have perused the said document. The
above endorsement is not written by the Chief Minister and in fact the said
application did not even reach the office of the Chief Minister at any point of
time.
LAW
ON THE SUBJECT:
We
shall now analyze and consider the rulings of this Court cited by learned
Solicitor General.
-
Dr. Dilip Kumar Deka
& Anr. vs. State of Assam & Anr., (1996) 6 SCC 234 (paras 6,7 & 8)
The above judgment relates to expunging adverse remarks. The above was a case
of adverse remarks recorded by the High Court against the members of hospital
allegedly for misleading the court and stalling process of the court by
submitting manipulated report regarding condition of a person to justify his
shifting from police remand to the hospital. The High Court made adverse
remarks without giving any opportunity to the members of extending or defending
themselves, without any evidence showing that their conduct justified such
remarks and without any necessity of such remarks for the purpose of deciding
the matter. This Court held on facts that adverse remarks were unwarranted and
hence expunged. This Court also cautioned superior courts to use temporate and
moderate language and also held that opportunity to be given to the affected
party before recording of adverse remarks by the Court. This Court also held
thus:
-
The
tests to be applied while dealing with the question of expunction of
disparaging remarks against a person or authorities whose conduct comes in for
consideration before a Court of law in cases to be decided by it were succinctly
laid down by this Court in State of U.P. v. Mohd. Naim, AIR 1964 SC 703. Those
tests are:
-
Whether the
party whose conduct is in question is before the court or has an opportunity of
explaining or defending himself;
-
Whether there is
evidence on record bearing on that conduct justifying the remarks; and
-
Whether it is
necessary for the decision of the case, as an integral part thereof, to
animadvert on that conduct.
The
above tests have been quoted with approval and applied by this Court in its
subsequent judgments in Jage Ram v.
Hans Raj
Midha, (1972) 1 SCC 181, R.K. Lakshmanan v.
A.K. Srinivasan,
(1975) 2 SCC 466 and Niranjan Patnaik v.
Sashibhusan
Kar, (1986) 2 SCC 569.
-
We are surprised
to find that in spite of the above catena of decisions of this Court, the
learned Judge did not, before making the remarks, give any opportunity to the
appellants, who were admittedly not parties to the revision petition, to defend
themselves. It cannot be gainsaid that the nature of remarks the learned Judge
has made, has cast a serious aspersion on the appellants affecting their
character and reputation and may, ultimately affect their career also.Condemnation
of the appellants without giving them an opportunity of being heard was a
complete negation of the fundamental principle of natural justice.
-
Judged in the
context of the first test laid down in Mohd.
Naim's
case (supra) the above discussion of ours is sufficient to quash the impugned
remarks, but we find that the remarks are vulnerable also to the second test laid
down therein. On perusal of the order dismissing the revision petition we find
that the remarks of the learned Judge are based solely upon the fact that the
report of the medical Board consisting of four medical experts belied their
report.
Indeed,
except the report of the Board we have also not found any other material on
record from which the learned Judge could have legitimately and justifiably
obtained satisfaction to pass the above remarks against the two appellants
before us. We hasten to add that in making the above observation we have left
out of our consideration the materials which prompted the learned Judge to make
adverse comments against the IO." India & Ors., (2006) 6 SCC 613 at
645 (para 57) In the above case, Dr. AR. Lakshmanan, J. concurring with the
opinion expressed by Hon. K.G.Balakrishnan, J. has observed that public
interest litigation is meant for the benefit of the lost and the lonely and it
is meant for the benefit of those whose social backwardness is the reason for
no access to the Court and that PILs are not meant to advance the political
gain and also to settle personal scores under the guise of PIL and to fight a
legal battle. In para 57, it has been observed as follows:- "57. Certain
allegations have been made against CBDT and the Public Prosecutors, Members of
the Income-tax Tribunal, etc. None of them were made parties before us.
Therefore, the allegations made against them are one-sided and cannot be looked
into at all. We cannot also say that all these authorities have acted in a mala
fide manner."
-
Dr. J.N. Banavalikar
vs. Municipal Corporation of Delhi & Anr., 1995 Suppl. (4) SCC 89 This
Court, in the above case, in para 21, observed thus:
"In
the facts and circumstances of this appeal, it is not possible to hold that the
impugned action in removing the appellant and appointing Dr. Patnaik is unfair
or unjust or irrational or arbitrary or tainted with any mala fide intention.
The
contention of the appellant that in order to accommodate a junior doctor as
Medical Superintendent in I.D. Hospital, Dr. Patnaik had been moved out from
the said hospital to replace the appellant as Medical Superintendent of RBTB
Hospital, is not only vague but lacks in particulars forming the foundation of
such contention. Further, in the absence of impleadment of the junior doctor
who is alleged to have been favoured by the course of action leading to removal
of the appellant and the person who had allegedly passed mala fide order in
order to favour such junior doctor, any contention of mala fide action in fact
i.e. 'malice in fact' should not be countenanced by the court. This appeal
therefore, fails and is dismissed without any order as to costs."
-
S. Pratap Singh
vs. The State of Punjab, (1964) 4 SCR 733 at 747, 748 &
749. This
Court in para 2 held thus:
"We
shall first take up for consideration the several allegations that have been
made and see whether they had been satisfactorily made out. Before proceeding
further it is necessary to state that allegations of a personal character
having been made against the Chief Minister, there could only be two ways in
which they could be repelled. First, if the allegations were wholly irrelevant,
and even if true, would not afford a basis upon which the appellant would be
entitled to any relief, they need not have been answered and the appellant
could derive no benefit from the respondents not answering them. We have
already dealt with this matter and have made it clear that if they were true
and made out by acceptable evidence, they could not be ignored as irrelevant;
(2) If they were relevant, in the absence of their intrinsic improbability the
allegations could be countered by documentary or affidavit evidence which would
show their falsity. In the absence of such evidence they could be disproved
only by the party against whom the allegations were made denying the same on
oath. In the present case there were serious allegations made against the Chief
Minister and there were several matters of which he alone could have personal
knowledge therefore which he could deny, but what was, however, placed before
the Court in answer to the charges made against the Chief Minister was an
affidavit by the Secretary to Government in the Medical Department who could
only speak from official records and obviously not from personal knowledge
about the several matters which were alleged against the Chief Minister. In
these circumstances we do not think it would be proper to brush aside the
allegations made by the appellant, particularly in respect of those matters
where they are supported by some evidence of a documentary nature seeing that
there is no contradiction by those persons who alone could have contradicted
them. In making this observation we have in mind the Chief Minister as well as
Mrs. Kairon against whom allegations have been made but who have not chosen to
state on oath the true facts according to them.
Before
passing on to a consideration of the details of the several allegations there
is one matter to which we ought to make reference at this stage and that is the
admissibility and evidentiary value of the tape-recorded talks which have been
produced as part of his supporting evidence by the appellant. The learned
Judges of the High Court without saying in so many terms that these were
inadmissible in evidence, this being the contention raised by the respondent-
state, have practically put them out of consideration for the reason that
tape-recordings were capable of being tampered with. With respect we cannot
agree. There are few documents and possibly no piece of evidence which could
not be tampered with, but that would certainly not be a ground on which Courts
could reject evidence as inadmissible or refuse to consider it. It was not
contended before us the tape-recordings were inadmissible. In the ultimate
analysis the factor mentioned would have a bearing only on the weight to be
attached to the evidence and not on its admissibility. Doubtless, if in any
particular case there is a well-grounded suspicion, not even say proof, that a
tape- recording has been tampered with, that would be a good ground for the
court to discount wholly its evidentiary value.
But in
the present case we do not see any basis for any such suggestion. The
tape-recordings were referred to by the appellant in his writ petition as part
of the evidence on which he proposed to rely in support of his assertions as
regards the substance of what passed between him and the Chief Minister and the
members of the latter's family on the several matters which were the subject of
allegations in the petition."
-
A.K.K.Nambiar
vs. Union of India & Ors., (1969( 3 SCC
864 at 867. This Court in paras 8 & 9 held thus:
"The
appellant made allegations against the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and
other persons some of whose names were disclosed and some of whose names were
not disclosed.
Neither
the Chief Minister nor any other person was made a party. The appellant filed
an affidavit in support of the petition. Neither the petition nor the affidavit
was verified.
The
affidavits which were filed in answer to the appellant's petition were also not
verified. The reason for verification of affidavits are to enable the Court to
find out which facts can be said to be proved on the affidavit evidence of
rival parties.
Allegations
may be true to knowledge or allegations may be true to information received
from persons or allegations may be based on records. The importance of
verification is to test the genuineness and authenticity of allegations and
also to make the deponent responsible for allegations. In essence verification
is required to enable the Court to find out as to whether it will be safe to
act on such affidavit evidence. In the present case, the affidavits of all the
parties suffer from the mischief of lack of proper verification with the result
that the affidavits should not be admissible in evidence.
The
affidavit evidence assumes importance in the present case because of
allegations of mala fide acts on the part of the respondents. The appellant
alleged that the Union of India made the order of suspension because of the
pressure of the Chief Minister of the State of Andhra Pradesh. The appellant, however, did not name any person of the
Union of India who acted in that manner and did not implead the Chief Minister
as a party. In order to succeed on the proof of mala fides in relation to the
order of suspension, the appellant has to prove either that the order of
suspension was made mala fide or that the order was made for collateral
purposes. In the present case, the appellant neither alleged nor established
either of these features." In the instant case, allegations have been made
against the then Chief Minister, however, he was not made party before the
Court. Therefore, the allegations made against him are one-sided and do not
merit any consideration.
We are
surprised to find that inspite of catena of decisions of this Court, the High
Court did not, give an opportunity to the affected party, the then Chief
Minister, before making remarks. It cannot be gainsaid that the nature of
remarks made in this judgment will cast a serious aspersion on the Chief
Minister affecting his reputation, career etc.
Condemnation
of the then Chief Minister without affording opportunity of being heard was a
complete negation of the basic principles of natural justice.
For
the foregoing reasons, we have no hesitation in expunging the
remarks/observations/strictures made against the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde and allow the appeal filed by the State of Maharashtra
who, in our opinion, is competent to maintain this appeal and order expunction
of the remarks and observations/strictures made against the then Chief
Minister. The appeal stands allowed only to the above extent. We make it clear
that we are not expressing any opinion on merits of the rival claims made in
the other special leave petition filed by the cooperative societies in special
leave petition No. 336 of 2006 which will be dealt with separately.
In the
result, the civil appeal arising out of special leave petition No. 18965 of
2006 stands allowed. However, there will be no order as to costs.
CIVIL
APPEAL No. 15 of 2007 (Arising out of S.L.P. (Civil) No.2707 of 2006) The above
appeal was filed by Mr. Vinay Mohan Lal who is a member of the IAS, 1970 batch
working in the grade of Principal Secretary in the Maharashtra Government
appointed as M.D. CIDCO and presently serving as M.D. MAFCO. The High Court,
while disposing off the writ petition filed by way of PIL, had made certain
observations against the appellant. The appeal was argued by the appellant
himself. He submitted that he was neither a party to the said proceedings nor
was directed to be made a party to the PIL. The observations made by the High
Court against him is quoted herein below for ready reference:
"We
are also amazed as to how the then Managing Director, who is an IAS officer,
got persuaded that these are genuine Housing Societies satisfying all the
requirements and capable of bearing the financial burden. (para 38) "It
was a grand plan to take advantage of their poverty, lack of understanding and
ignorance, and it could not be executed unless, the original chief promoters,
the builders and the officers of CIDCO at the higher level such as the Managing
Director were party to it. Would the Managing Directors and the officers of CIDCO
have entertained these applicants who are principally slum dwellers for this
prime plot known as "Marine Drive of Navi Mumbai", if they were to
approach them without being led by these traders and supported by a builder and
without the blessings of the Chief Minister? It is either a case of involvement
in the design or of gross dereliction of duty. In either case, it is
unjustifiable and highly objectionable and the consequences must follow (para
139).
"Now
suddenly it appears that this device has been invented and with the
participation of the officers of CIDCO right from the Managing Director to who
so ever are the persons below, all the conditions of allotment and scrutiny are
given a go by and a prime plot sought to be handed over to a builder on a platter
. A good scheme has been permitted to be misused with full connivance of the
officers of CIDCO. (para 140) "What we find is that there is a complete
dereliction of responsibilities on the part of the then Managing Director of
CIDCO and who so ever were incharge of this project. Merely because the then CM
had asked them to process early, they have given a complete go-by to scrutiny
In view of what is stated above, we expect the authorities of the State
Government and CIDCO to take appropriate actions against the persons concerned
so that this kind of deviation does not take place in future. (para 141)"
The party in person submitted that the said observation made by the High Court
without hearing the appellant has now mis-interpreted by the government counsel
in their submission before the CAT in O.A. No. 528 of 2005 wherein the charge
sheet issued to the appellant on 11th July has been challenged due to which the
government counsel pointed out to the tribunal stating that the government was
now under obligation to initiate action against the appellant since the High
Court has so directed.
According
to Mr. V. Mohan Lal the impugned judgment is not only erroneous but is also
passed on inferences and surmises which are not sustainable. According to him,
the petitioners before the High Court, present respondent No.11 has mis-interpreted
the facts and have misled the High Court and that events which have happened
after due allotment and which could not have been anticipated at the time of
allotment have been considered to conclude that the allotment itself was
improper. Therefore, the appellant filed the above appeal being aggrieved by
the observations made by the High Court in the impugned judgment with that
limited scope. According to the appellant, the High Court was not right in
passing strictures against the appellant when the appellant when the appellant
was not a party to the said proceedings. He further submitted that the High
Court was not right to pass adverse comments against the appellant which are likely
to affect the career of the appellant without giving an opportunity to the
appellant of being heard. He therefore, submitted that the order of the High
Court is in utter violation of principles of natural justice.
According
to him, the comments made against the appellant were uncalled for in the facts
and circumstances of the case and that the said comments which were made
without the appellant being heard could at all have been referred to and relied
on by the High Court in some other proceedings.
We see
much force and substance in the contentions put forward by the party in person.
In our opinion, the High Court was not right in passing
comments/observations/strictures against the appellant when the appellant was
not a party to the said proceedings nor was directed to be made a party. The
High Court was also not right in passing the comments against the appellant
without giving an opportunity to the appellant of being heard. The act of the
High Court, in our opinion, is in gross violation of the principles of natural
justice.
The
party in person cited a ruling of the this court being State of Bihar vs. Lal
Krishna Advani & Others, (2003) 8 SCC 361 at page 367 wherein it was
observed that strictures cannot be passed against an individual without making him
a party and without giving an opportunity to be heard since the right to
reputation is an individual's fundamental right. In our opinion, the
observations made by the High Court in paras 38, 139, 140 & 141 of the
impugned order are absolutely uncalled for as the appellant was not a party to
the said PIL and they are also based on complete misunderstanding of the facts.
The observations made by the High Court as rightly pointed out by the party in
person would have wide ramifications and adverse impact on the career of the
appellant.
We
have already dealt with the cases and the rulings on the subject in question in
the earlier part of the judgment in the appeal filed by the State of Maharashtra which, in our opinion, squarely
applies to the facts and circumstances of the case filed by the party in
person. We, therefore, expunge the remarks/observations/strictures made against
the appellant as the same has been made behind his back. We also make it clear
that we are not expressing any opinion on the merits of the special leave
petition No.336 of 2006 filed by Amey Cooperative Society which will be dealt
with absolutely on merits of the rival claims by a separate judgment.
The
party in person has also pointed out certain findings in the judgment of the
High Court. We do not propose to go into the merits of the other contentions
which is the subject- matter of the special leave petition No.336 of 2006. In
our opinion, when an authority takes a decision which may have civil
consequences and affects the rights of a person, the principles of natural
justice would at once come into play.
Reputation
of an individual is an important part of ones life. It is observed in 1955
American LR 171 DF Marion vs. Minnie Davis and reads as
follows:- "The right to enjoyment of a private reputation, unassailed by
malicious slander is of an ancient origin, and is necessary to human society. A
good reputation is an element of personal security, and is protected by the
Constitution equally with the right to the enjoyment of life, liberty and
property." This court also in Board of Trustees of the Port of Bombay vs. Dilip
Kumar Raghavendranath Natkarni 1983 (1) SCC 124 has observed that right to
reputation is a facet of right to life of a citizen under Article 21 of the
Constitution.
It is
thus amply clear that one is entitled to have and preserve ones reputation and
one also has a right to protect it.
In
case any authority in discharge of its duties fastened upon it under the law,
travels into the realm of personal reputation adversely affecting him, it must
provide a chance to him to have his say in the matter. In such circumstances,
right of an individual to have the safeguard of the principles of natural
justice before being adversely commented upon is statutorily recognized and
violation of the same will have to bear the scrutiny of judicial review.
For
the aforesaid reasons, we hold that the observations/strictures and remarks
made by the High Court against the appellant behind his back is totally
uncalled for and not warranted. We, therefore, have no hesitation to order
expunction of the remarks made in para Nos. 38,139, 140 and 141 of the impugned
judgment. The civil appeal is allowed only to the above extent. We order no
costs.
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