2015 (9) TMI 1584 - SC - Indian Laws

Court allows Housing Board's appeals, finds injunction unenforceable due to errors. Property inclusion erroneous.

Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. And West Bengal Housing Board Versus Pramila Sanfui & Ors.

The court held that the appeals filed by the Housing Board were maintainable as they were not party to earlier proceedings. The temporary injunction was ... Ex parte interim order of temporary injunction - Maintainability of appeals filed by the Appellant Housing Board - the earlier SLP filed by the Appellant Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. was dismissed with liberty accorded to it to file appropriate petition before the High Court - order of temporary injunction - Held that:- The order of temporary injunction passed in the original suit proceedings in respect of the property in dispute without impleading either the vendors of the Appellant Housing Board or the heirs of the late Gangadas Pal to the original suit proceedings cannot be said to have a binding effect on the Appellant Housing Board. Therefore, the learned Subordinate Judge ought to have taken this aspect of the matter into consideration while directing the Superintendent of Police, South 24 Paraganas to enforce the interim order of temporary injunction against Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd., which is the lease holder as the Board has granted lease hold rights in its favour to develop the property by joint venture to provide residential accommodation to the economically weaker sections of the society, which is a laudable object of the Board under the statutory provisions of the West Bengal Housing Board Act, 1972. Thus, the aforesaid decisions of this Court upon which reliance has been placed by the learned senior Counsel appearing on behalf of some of the Plaintiffs-Respondents cannot be applied either against the Appellant Housing Board or its lessee or any other person claiming through it, as it was not a party to the proceedings and it did not challenge the said order earlier before this Court and therefore the Civil Appeals filed by it are maintainable. Order of temporary injunction - In view of the fact that the right, title and interest upon the disputed property has been settled in favour of the vendors of the Appellant Housing Board, who are the legal heirs of the late Gangadas Pal, who was an intermediary of the land in question in terms of Section 6 of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953, adding of the property in question to the suit schedule property in dispute cannot be the subject matter of partition in view of the express provisions of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953 which excludes the jurisdiction of the civil court in respect of any rights in such estate as entry in record of rights is published. In the instant case, the names of the heirs of late Gangadas Pal were included in the record of rights in pursuance of the order passed in the Writ Petitions in connection with the Big Raiyat Case No. 5 of 1967, which order was affirmed by this Court in the case of Sulekha Pal, referred to supra. The amendment of plaint to include the suit property of the heirs of late Gangadas Pal was done in pursuance of the order dated 07.07.2006, wherein the learned Subordinate Judge, Alipore added the land in question which has been sold to the Appellant Housing Board, to the schedule of suit lands in Title Suit No. 121 of 1962. The same is erroneous in law and therefore, liable to be set aside as the said order is not binding on the Appellant for the reasons stated supra. a) The appeals of the Appellant Housing Board are allowed by holding that ex parte interim order of temporary injunction passed on 16.06.2006 by the learned Subordinate Judge, Alipore in Title Suit No. 121 of 1962 in respect of the property in question purchased from the legal heirs of the late Gangadas Pal who are declared as intermediaries Under Section 6 of the Act of 1953 and therefore the same are not binding on this Appellant as it is not a party to the proceedings and the Civil Court did not have the jurisdiction to deal with the said property, as per Section 57B(2)(a), (b) and (c) of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act of 1953. b) Since the interim order of temporary injunction is not binding on the Appellant Housing Board and cannot be operated against them, therefore the question of enforcing the same against the Appellant Housing Board or its agents or any person claiming through it, through the jurisdictional police to help the Plaintiffs-Respondents as has been granted by the learned Subordinate Judge by his orders dated 03.07.2006 and 13.01.2010 at the request of the Plaintiffs-Respondents, does not arise. c) In view of the appeals of the Appellant Housing Board being allowed, the appeals filed by the Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. are disposed of as they are unnecessary. Issues Involved:1. Maintainability of the appeals filed by the Appellant Housing Board.2. Enforceability of the temporary injunction order against the Appellant Housing Board.3. Inclusion of the property of the Housing Board in the suit and the jurisdiction of the Civil Court.4. Final order and relief.Detailed Analysis:Issue 1: Maintainability of the AppealsThe court examined whether the appeals filed by the Appellant Housing Board were maintainable, given that an earlier SLP filed by Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. was dismissed with liberty to file an appropriate petition before the High Court. The court held that the appeals were maintainable as the Appellant Housing Board was not a party to the earlier proceedings and had not challenged the order before. Thus, the decisions cited by the Respondents were not applicable.Issue 2: Enforceability of the Temporary InjunctionThe court analyzed the enforceability of the temporary injunction dated 16.06.2006, which was passed without impleading the vendors and the Appellant Housing Board. The court found that the temporary injunction could not be enforced against the Appellant Housing Board because it was not a party to the original suit, and the legal heirs of late Gangadas Pal were not included in the suit. The inclusion of the property in the suit schedule by amendment was done without hearing the heirs of late Gangadas Pal, making the temporary injunction order not binding on the Appellant Housing Board.Issue 3: Inclusion of the Property and JurisdictionThe court held that the inclusion of the property of the Housing Board in the suit was erroneous. The property was added to the suit schedule properties after the suit had abated against late Gangadas Pal and without bringing his legal heirs on record. The court also noted that the Civil Court did not have jurisdiction over the property in question under Section 57B(2)(a), (b), and (c) of the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953, which bars the jurisdiction of Civil Courts in certain matters.Issue 4: Final Order and ReliefThe court set aside the order of temporary injunction in so far as it related to the property of the Appellant Housing Board. The court also noted that the Appellant Housing Board had entered into a Joint Venture Settlement with Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. without following the mandatory procedure of inviting applications, which could be challenged in an appropriate proceeding. The court allowed the appeals of the Appellant Housing Board and disposed of the appeals filed by Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. as unnecessary.Final Order:a) The appeals of the Appellant Housing Board were allowed, and the interim order of temporary injunction passed on 16.06.2006 was held not binding on the Appellant.b) The interim order of temporary injunction could not be enforced against the Appellant Housing Board or its agents.c) The appeals filed by Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Ltd. were disposed of as unnecessary. All Interlocutory Applications were disposed of.