TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2003 (10) TMI 655
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.... policy decision of dealing with the applications received from the entrepreneurs through one window system. With a view to achieve the said objective a High Level Committee was constituted. BPL Limited (hereinafter referred to as 'the Company' with a view to set up industries applied for allotment of 500 acres of land for its three projects. The said application was considered by the High Level Committee wherein a decision was taken to allot 175 acres of land in favour of the Company at RS. 92/- per sq.m. The Company was held to be entitled to various other incentives for the aforementioned purposes. Such allotment was made by issuing an order dated 7.4.1995 out of the land acquired by it i.e. 296.26 acres in terms of notification dated 2/4th September, 1991 issued under Section 28(1) of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966. PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION: 3. The respondents filed a public interest litigation questioning the said allotment inter alia on the ground that the statutory purposes for which the Board can acquire the land had been breached by reason thereof. The respondent Nos. 1 to 3 describing themselves to be the social workers in the writ petiti....
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.... 663.56 crores. The Government of Karnataka decided to allot 220 acres of land at Dobospet Industrial Area. f) That an extent of 278.42 acres of private land near Dobospet was acquired by the State Government under Section 28(4) of KIADB Act, 1966 for the purpose of development by this Respondent. The final declaration is published in Karnataka Gazette dated 12.11.1992. A layout was planned in consultation with the Director, Town Planning to form 28 plots of varying extent from 1 acre to 210 acres. Plot No.1 and 2 measuring 30 acres and 210 acres are reserved in favour of BPL India Ltd. In the remaining 74 acres small plots are formed to accommodate non-polluting Industries. An extent of 28.80 acres will be occupied by roads, civic amenities etc. g) That this respondent while developing an industrial area undertakes development work like formation of WBM Roads, with block topping, drains with dick also culverts, stream water drains, drains supply through borewell, street lighting, avenue trees and drawing of high tension and low tension power line. The cost incurred has to be borne by allottees. However, the land that is allotted to BPL India Ltd. has not been entirely develope....
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....se was for a period of 11 years and the yearly rent payable therefor was Rs. 55,479/- and maintenance charges at Rs. 74,568/-. It was stipulated that on expiry of the said period of 11 years the property would be sold to the lessee at the price fixed by the lessor. 9. Clause 11(b) of the said Agreement to Lease reads as follows: "As soon as it may be convenient the LESSOR will fix the price of demised premises at which it will be sold to the LESSEE and communicate it to the LESSEE and the decision of the Lessor in this regard will be final and binding on the LESSEE. The LESSEE shall pay the balance of the value of the property, if any, after adjusting the premium and the total amount of rent paid by the LESSEE and earnest money deposit within one month from the date of receipt of communication signed by the LESSOR or any other officer authorised in this behalf by the LESSOR. On the other hand, if any sum is determined as payable by the LESSOR to the LESSEE after the adjustment as aforesaid, such sum shall be refunded to the LESSEE before the date of execution of the sale deed." 10. The appellants also contended before the High Court that the writ petitioners-respondents had bee....
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....ct upon such directions. 41) Power to make Regulations: 1) The Board may, with the previous approval of the State Government, by notification make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules made hereunder to carry out the purposes of this Act. 2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for:- a) ... b) the terms and conditions under which the Board any dispose of land." 13. Pursuant to and in furtherance of the power conferred upon the State, regulations were framed known as 'Regulations governing the disposal of land by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board'. Regulations 7 and 13 of the said Regulations which are relevant for the purpose of this case are as under: "7. Inviting applications: The Board shall notify the availability of land, the manner of disposal, the last date for submission of applications and such other particulars as the Board may consider necessary in each case by giving wide publicity through newspapers having circulating in and outside Karnataka State and invite applications from industries or persons intending to start industries. 13. Allotment of plo....
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....required to take extreme care and caution in relation thereto. It was contended that the High Court had rightly found that for all intent and purport such vast tract of land had been sold to the Company although apparently allotted for a period of 11 years and thereafter the Company would be entitled to obtain sale deed in relation to the demised Land. At the relevant time, Mr. Iyer argued, neither any project report had been submitted by the Company nor any material was placed to show that the Company required such vast tract of land. SCOPE OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION 17. The Company intended to set up more than one unit. For the purpose of achieving the objective of economic development of the State, the State is entitled to deal with the applications of the entrepreneurs in an appropriate manner. For the said purpose a High Level Committee was constituted. The said Committee held its meeting on 10.10.1994 wherein not only the members referred to hereinbefore but also various other officers were present. Presumably, prior thereto the applications filed by the Company were scrutinized by the competent authorities. After detailed discussions, the High Level Committee resolv....
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....en laid down. In that situation it was open to the competent authorities to evolve their own procedure. Such a procedure of taking a decision upon deliberations does not fall foul of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. No malice of fact has been alleged in the instant case. The High Court has proceeded to pronounce its judgment inter alia on the ground that the price of the land should have been fixed at Rs. 8,00,000/- per acre. In the support of the said decision, the High Court has relied upon a grant at the aforementioned rate. However, it was pointed out by the Board: "It is submitted that the land allotted to respondent No.4 was not fully developed by this petitioner except some infrastructural facilities which have been counted while calculating the price of the land. The land allotted to individual entrepreneurs is fully developed with all infrastructural facilities. There cannot be any equality between unequals. The cost of the land is arrived at by this petitioner taking into consideration the cost of acquisition, cost of partial development, service and establishment charges." 19. This aspect of the matter did not receive due attention of the High Court despite it....
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....he expertise to correct the administrative decision. If a review of the administrative decision is permitted it will be substituting its own decision, without the necessary expertise which itself may be fallible. 4) The terms of the invitation to tender cannot be open to judicial scrutiny because the invitation to tender is in the realm of contract. Normally speaking, the decision to accept the tender or award the contract is reached by process of negotiations through several tiers. More often than not, such decisions are made qualitatively by experts. 5) The Government must have freedom of contract. In other words, a fair play in the joints is a necessary concomitant for an administrative body functioning in an administrative sphere or quasi-administrative sphere. However, the decision must not only be tested by the application of Wednesbury principle of reasonableness (including its other facts pointed out above) but must be free from arbitrariness not affected by bias or actuated by mala fides. (6) Quashing decisions may impose heavy administrative burden on the administration and lead to increased and unbudgeted expenditure." 24. In M.P. Oil Extraction and another vs. St....
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....alty to the respondents and other units covered by the agreements cannot be assailed. It is to be appreciated that in this case, distribution by public auction or by open tender may not achieve the purpose of the policy of protective measure by way of supply of sal seeds at concessional rate of royalty to the industrial units covered by the agreements on being selected on valid and objective considerations." 26. In Netai Bag and others vs. State of W.B. and others 2000 (8) SCC 262 ), Sethi J. speaking for the Bench observed: "Though the State cannot escape its liability to show its actions to be fair, reasonable and in accordance with law, yet wherever challenge is thrown to any of such action, initial burden of showing the prima facie existence of violation of the mandate of the Constitution lies upon the person approaching the court. We have found in this case, that the appellants have miserably failed to place on record or to point out to any alleged constitutional vice or illegality. Neither the High Court nor this Court would have ventured to make a rowing inquiry particularly in a writ petition filed at the instance of the erstwhile owners of the land, whose main object ap....
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.... resorted to ensure the disposal of the slaughterhouse at Durgapur which was proved to have been running in losses. The respondent State had failed to get any buyer for Durgapur Project despite newspaper advertisement. In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case we are not persuaded to hold that the action of the respondent State in executing the lease deed with Respondent 5 was unreasonable, illegal, arbitrary or actuated by extraneous considerations. In this regard it is worth noticing that none except the erstwhile owners and the propounders of vegetarianism have made any grievance to the effect that the market value of the property, as charged from Respondent 5, was either allegedly for a song or at a throwaway price." 27. In Raunaq International Ltd. vs. I.V.R. Construction Ltd. and others 1999 (1) SCC 492 ) it was held: 11) When a writ petition is filed in the High Court challenging the award of a contract by a public authority or the State, the court must be satisfied that there is some element of public interest involved in entertaining such a petition. If, for example the dispute is purely between two tenderers, the court must be vary careful to see if....
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....as been taken bona fide and a choice has been exercised on legitimate considerations and not arbitrarily, there is no reason why the court should entertain a petition under Article 226. 13) Hence before entertaining a writ petition and passing any interim orders in such petitions, the court must carefully weigh conflicting public interests. Only when it comes to a conclusion that there is an overwhelming public interest in entertaining the petition, the court should intervene. 14) Where there is an allegation of mala fides or an allegation that the contract has been entered into for collateral purposes and the court is satisfied on the material before it that the allegation needs further examination, the court would be entitled to entertain the petition. But even here, the court must weigh the consequences in balance before granting interim orders. 28. In Narmada Bachao Andolan vs. Union of India and others 2000 (10) SCC 664 ) this Court opined: "47. The project, in principle, was cleared more than 25 years ago when the foundation stone was laid by late Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Thereafter, there was an agreement of the four Chief Ministers, in 1974, namely, the Chief Minist....
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....ollowing words: "PIL may, therefore, be described as satisfying one or more of the following parameters. These are not exclusive but merely descriptive. - Where the concerns underlying a petition are not individualist but are shared widely by a large number of people (bonded labour, undertrial prisoners, prison inmates). - Where the affected persons belong to the disadvantaged sections of society (women, children , bonded labour, unorganised labour etc.). - Where judicial law making is necessary to avoid exploitation (inter- country adoption, the education of the children of the prostitutes). - Where judicial intervention is necessary for the protection of the sanctity of democratic institutions (independence of the judiciary, existence of grievances redressal forums). - Where administrative decisions related to development are harmful to the environment and jeopardize people's right to natural resources such as air or water." There is, in recent years, a feeling which is not without any foundation that public interest litigation is now tending to become publicity interest litigation or private interest litigation and has tendency to be counterproductive. PIL is n....
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....ng upon the Government to furnish the names of 5 IAS Officers to the Court so that it could exercise the power of appointment of the Commissioner. The Court should be circumspect in entertaining such public interest litigation for another reason. There may be dispute amongst the devotees as to what practices should be followed by the temple authorities. There may be dispute as regard the rites and rituals to be performed in the temple or omission thereof. Any decision in favour of one sector of the people may heart the sentiments of the other. The Courts normally, thus, at the first instance would not enter into such disputed arena, particularly when by reason thereof the fundamental right of a group of devotees under Articles 25 and 26 may be infringed. Like any other wing of the State, the Courts also while passing an order should ensure that the fundamental rights of a group of citizens under Articles 25 and 26 are not infringed. Such care and caution on the part of the High Court would be a welcome step. Where access to justice poses a fundamental problem facing the third world today, its importance in India has increased. Laws are designated to improve the socio-economic c....
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....urts and Theories of Democracy, Citizenship, and Good Governance' at page 105 states: "However, this concept of democracy as rights-based with limited governmental power, and in particular of the role of the Courts in a democracy, carries high risk for the judges- and for the public. Courts may interfere inadvisedly in public administration. The case of Bromley London Borough Council vs. Greater London Council (1983) 1 AC 768, HL) is a classic example. The House of Lords quashed the GLC cheap fares policy as being based on a misreading of the statutory provisions, but were accused of themselves misunderstanding transport policy in so doing. The courts are not experts in policy and public administration - hence Jowell's point that the courts should not step beyond their institutional capacity (Jowell, 2000). Acceptance of this approach is reflected in the judgments of Laws LJ in International Transport Roth GmbH vs. Secretary of State for the Home Department (2002) EWCA Civ 158, (2002) 3 WLR 344), and of Lord Nimmo Smith in Adams vs. Lord Advocate (Court of Session. Times, 8 August 2002) in which a distinction was drawn between areas where the subject matter lies within th....