Party deletion in transfer proceedings refused where the statute preserves pending cases and the appellant suffers no legal prejudice.

The Acquisition and Transfer of Power Transmission Systems Act, 1993 vested the power transmission systems in the Central Government and, by legal fiction, in Power Grid Corporation of India. Pending suits, appeals and other proceedings against the named companies were to continue against Power Grid Corporation, so the appellant-company could not insist on deletion from the array of parties. The impugned order did not fasten liability on the appellant or decide whether it was bound to make payment, and its presence on record caused no legal prejudice. The court also noted that retaining the appellant could assist in the winding up proceedings, so the request for deletion was rejected.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellant-company should be deleted from the array of parties in view of the Acquisition and Transfer of Power Transmission Systems Act, 1993.

Analysis: The Act vested the power transmission systems in the Central Government and, by legal fiction, in the Power Grid Corporation of India. Section 4(3) provided that pending suits, appeals and other proceedings against the named companies would not abate and would continue against the Power Grid Corporation of India. The impugned order did not fasten any liability on the appellant nor determine the question whether the appellant was liable to make payment. The appellant was found not to suffer any legal prejudice by remaining on record, and its presence could assist the adjudication of the winding up proceedings.

Conclusion: The appellant was not entitled to be deleted from the array of parties.

---