Bharath
Metha Vs. State by Inspector of Police Chennai [2008] INSC498 (25 March 2008)
Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT & P. SATHASIVAM (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No.1595 of 2005) Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. Challenge in this appeal is to the order of a learned Single Judge of the
Madras High Court dismissing the petition filed by the appellant. The Criminal
Revision was filed against order dated 22.12.2003 made in CMP No. 7255 of 2003
by the Court of Judicial Magistrate No. II, Ponneri, dismissing the petition
filed by the appellant under Sections 451 and 457 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (in short the Cr.P.C.). The application was filed for
release of lorry bearing Registration No. TN-01-F- 9797 which was alleged to
have been involved in a case registered for offences punishable under various
provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act. The case of the appellant before
the High Court was that money was provided to the respondent No. 2 to purchase
the said lorry under a hire purchase agreement. In terms of the agreement, the
hirer was required to pay 32 monthly instalments of Rs.14,875/- between the
period from 24.6.2000 and 24.1.2003. Under the hire purchase laws, the hirer
can become the owner of the vehicle by exercising the option to purchase after
paying the entire amount due and till that time the financier is the owner. The
financier is also entitled to possession of the vehicle since he is the owner.
In the agreement, appellant is described as the owner and the respondent no.2
as the hirer. The appellant tried to take possession of the vehicle as an owner
but the vehicle was not available at the premises and on enquiry appellant came
to know that the police had seized the same on 6.9.2000 when the vehicle was
operating with a fake number plate for transporting prohibited spirit. The
First Information Report was lodged against respondent No.2 and therefore the
appellant prayed for release of the vehicle. The prayer was resisted by the
State on the ground that the vehicle had already been directed to be returned
to the respondent No.2 as he was the owner as per the Registration
Certification.
3. The High Court noted that the vehicle was involved in commission of
offences punishable under Sections 4(I)(A) and 4(1)(aaa) of the Act read with
Rules 5 & 6 of Rectified Spirit Rules. High Court also noted that though an
order had been passed for releasing the vehicle in favour of respondent No. 2,
he had not taken custody of the same though the order was passed on 23.1.2001.
The High Court also noted that since the respondent No.2 was registered as
owner of the vehicle and appellant was only the financier, the vehicle could
not be released as prayed for. Accordingly, as noted above, the criminal
revision petition was dismissed.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that in the certificate of
registration there is clearly an endorsement to the effect that the vehicle was
hired under the hire purchase agreement. It was also clearly endorsed that the
hirer had entered into hire purchase agreement with Subham Credits represented
by the appellant.
5. Learned counsel for the State clearly stated that though an order was
passed permitting to respondent No.2 that release of the vehicle by executing
bond of Rs.1,00,000/- with two sureties of like sum and other condition that he
shall not alienate or encumber or alter the vehicle and shall produce the
vehicle as and when required by the trial court, the said condition has not
been complied with.
6. It is to be noted that respondent No. 2 did not appear before the High
Court in the connected proceedings.
7. The nature of hire purchase agreement has been noted by this Court in
Charanjit Singh Chadha v. Sudhir Mehra (2001(7) SCC 417). At page 421 it was
noted as follows:
5. Hire-purchase agreements are executory contracts under which the
goods are let on hire and the hirer has an option to purchase in accordance
with the terms of the agreement.
These types of agreements were originally entered into between the dealer
and the customer and the dealer used to extend credit to the customer. But as
hire-purchase scheme gained in popularity and in size, the dealers who were not
endowed with liberal amount of working capital found it difficult to extend the
scheme to many customers. Then the financiers came into the picture. The
finance company would buy the goods from the dealer and let them to the
customer under hire- purchase agreement. The dealer would deliver the goods to
the customer who would then drop out of the transaction leaving the finance
company to collect instalments directly from the customer. Under hire-purchase
agreement, the hirer is simply paying for the use of the goods and for the
option to purchase them.
The finance charge, representing the difference between the cash price and
the hire-purchase price, is not interest but represents a sum which the hirer
has to pay for the privilege of being allowed to discharge the purchase price
of goods by instalments.
6. Though in India, Parliament has passed the Hire Purchase Act, 1972, the
same has not been notified in the Official Gazette by the Central Government so
far. An initial notification was issued and the same was withdrawn later. The
rules relating to hire- purchase agreements are delineated by the decisions of
higher courts. There are a series of decisions of this Court explaining the
nature of the hire-purchase agreement and mostly these decisions were rendered
when the question arose whether there was a sale so as to attract payment of
tax under the Sales Tax Act.
7. In Damodar Valley Corpn. v. State of Bihar (AIR 1961 SC 440) this Court
took the view that a mere contract of hiring, without more, is a species of the
contract of bailment, which does not create a title in the bailee, but the law
of hire purchase has undergone considerable development during the last half a
century or more and has introduced a number of variations, thus leading to
categories and it becomes a question of some nicety as to which category a
particular contract between the parties comes under. Ordinarily, a contract of
hire purchase confers no title on the hirer, but a mere option to purchase on
fulfilment of certain conditions. But a contract of hire purchase may also
provide for the agreement to purchase the thing hired by deferred payments
subject to the condition that title to the thing shall not pass until all the
instalments have been paid. There may be other variations of a contract of hire
purchase depending upon the terms agreed between the parties. When rights in
third parties have been created by acts of parties or by operation of law, the
question may arise as to what exactly were the rights and obligations of the
parties to the original contract.
8. In K.L. Johar & Co. v. CTO (AIR 1965 SC 1082) this Court took the
view that a hire- purchase agreement has two elements: (1) element of bailment;
and (2) element of sale, in the sense that it contemplates an eventual sale.
The element of sale fructifies when the option is exercised by the intending
purchaser after fulfilling the terms of the agreement.
When all the terms of the agreement are satisfied and the option is
exercised a sale takes place of the goods which till then had been hired.
8. The scope and ambit of Section 451 Cr.P.C. was highlighted by this Court
in Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat (2002(10) SCC 283).
9. Undisputedly, in the Registration Certificate the name of the financier
has been indicated and the factum that the vehicle was subject to such an
agreement was also noted. In the agreement, appellant is described as owner,
but respondent no.2 as hirer. It is noticed that the respondent No.2 had
applied for the release of the vehicle and the High Court had directed the
release of vehicle on certain conditions. Undisputedly, those conditions have
not been fulfilled. The vehicle is, therefore, lying with the seizing
authorities for nearly eight years now. In view of the factual position
highlighted above, we direct release of the vehicle in favour of the appellant
subject to fulfillment of the conditions which were stipulated for the respondent
No.2.
10. The appeal is allowed to the aforesaid extent.
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