TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (7) TMI 1664
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....te compensation from the petitioner and its joint venture partner viz. Allahabad Bank (respondent No. 2) for the goods stolen from the premises in question. FACTUAL MATRIX 2. It appears from the materials on record that the respondent Bank, acting as an intermediary issued a Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy dated 05.12.2011 in favour of the complainant through the petitioner herein. Similarly, a Burglary Insurance Policy was also issued in favour of the complainant dated 08.12.2011. Both the policies covered a sum of Rs. 50 lakh for the risk of fire and burglary. The policies were for the period between 25.11.2011 and 24.11.2012. 3. By way of letter dated 28.03.2012, the complainant informed the respondent Bank that the construction of his new premises at Bawana, Delhi had been completed and he had transferred his stock to the above premises situated in Bawana from the premises situated in Rajgarh Ext., Gandhi Nagar, Delhi and Bhagirath Palace, Chandni Chowk, Delhi. In this letter the complainant had also instructed the Bank to inform the petitioner. 4. The respondent Bank acknowledged the aforesaid intimation and claims to have informed the petitioner by way of ....
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....etitioner. 10. By order dated 16.01.2023, the First Appeal filed by the petitioner herein came to be dismissed. 11. In such circumstances referred to above, the petitioner is here before this Court with the present petition, seeking special leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution. DISCUSSION 12. In the course of the hearing of this matter, manyfold contentions were raised on either side. However, the moot question that falls for our consideration is whether we should entertain this petition seeking special leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution directly against the order passed by the NCDRC in exercise of its appellate jurisdiction or relegate the petitioner to avail the remedy of filing a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution or a petition invoking supervisory jurisdiction of the jurisdictional High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution? 13. Before, we proceed to answer the aforesaid question, we must look into the few relevant provisions of the Act 1986. 14. Section 21(a) of the Act 1986 is titled 'Jurisdiction of the National Commission'. The same reads thus: "21. Jurisdiction of the National Com....
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....er of National Commission. - Any person, aggrieved by an order made by the National Commission in exercise of its powers conferred by sub- clause (i) or (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 58, may prefer an appeal against such order to the Supreme Court within a period of thirty days from the date of the order: Provided that the Supreme Court may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of thirty days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing it within that period: Provided further that no appeal by a person who is required to pay any amount in terms of an order of the National Commission shall be entertained by the Supreme Court unless that person has deposited fifty per cent. of that amount in the manner as may be prescribed." 17. A plain reading of the aforesaid provisions of the Act 1986 and Act 2019, respectively would indicate that the remedy of appeal to this Court is available only with respect to the orders passed by the NCDRC in exercise of its powers conferred by Section 21(a)(i) of the Act 1986 and 58(1)(a)(i) or 58(1)(a)(ii) of the Act 2019. In other words, both the Acts provide for the remedy of ....
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....e: Murtaza and Sons and Another v. Nazir Mohd. Khan and Others reported (1970) 3 SCC 876]. 20. A Constitution Bench of this Court in Dhakeswari Cotton Mills Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income Tax, West Bengal, reported in (1955) 1 SCR 941 : AIR 1955 SC 65 made the following observations: "7. ... It is not possible to define with any precision the limitations on the exercise of the discretionary jurisdiction vested in this Court by the constitutional provision made in article 136. The limitations, whatever they be, are implicit in the nature and character of the power itself. It being an exceptional and overriding power, naturally it has to be exercised sparingly and with caution and only in special and extraordinary situations. Beyond that it is not possible to fetter the exercise of this power by any set formula or rule. All that can be said is that the Constitution having trusted the wisdom and good sense of the Judges of this Court in this matter, that itself is a sufficient safeguard and guarantee that the power will only be used to advance the cause of justice, and that its exercise will be governed by well established principles which govern the exercise of overriding....
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....ined in Section 245- I does not and cannot bar the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 or the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 32 or under Article 136, as the case may be. But that does not mean that the jurisdiction of this Court in the appeal preferred directly in this Court is any different than what it would be if the assessee had first approached the High Court under Article 226 and then come up in appeal to this Court under Article 136. A party does not and cannot gain any advantage by approaching this Court directly under Article 136, instead of approaching the High Court under Article 226. This is not a limitation inherent in Article 136; it is a limitation which this Court imposes on itself having regard to the nature of the function performed by the Commission and keeping in view the principles of judicial review .... " (Emphasis supplied) 24. Thus, what is discernible from the aforesaid decisions of this Court is that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to grant special leave to appeal can be invoked in very exceptional circumstances. The question of law of general public importance or a decision which shocks the conscience of the Court are s....
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....delivery of the flat in possession of the appellant. 27. The appellant filed an execution and contempt petition against the respondent since he did not comply with the order of the SCDRC. Vide its order dated 12.03.2021, the SCDRC directed the respondent to produce the details of bank accounts or properties for the purpose of attaching the same and to implement the order passed by the SCDRC. 28. The respondent filed an appeal before the NCDRC. On 30.03.2021, the NCDRC stayed the order of SCDRC subject to the deposit of the cost of entire flat along with nine per cent interest on the amount paid till date in the Registry of the SCDRC. 29. The respondent, being aggrieved against the order of NCDRC filed a writ petition before the High Court, challenging the order passed by the NCDRC. Before the High Court the respondent contended that the NCDRC ought not to have directed the respondent, the builder, to deposit the entire cost of the apartment along with the compensation awarded by the SCDRC. The High Court stayed the order of National Commission, vide its order dated 25.05.2021. The said stay order was issued subject to the condition that the respondent is to deposit with th....
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....r against the order passed by the NCDRC in an appeal under Section 58(1)(a)(iii) of the Act 2019, petition before the High Court under the Article 227 of Constitution of India would be maintainable. 34. After due analysis of the provisions of the Act 2019, which are pari materia to the provisions of the Act 1986, this Court in Ibrat Faizan (supra) held as under: "11. .... Therefore, an appeal against the order passed by the National Commission to this Court would be maintainable only in case the order is passed by the National Commission in exercise of its powers conferred under Section 58(1)(a)(i) or under Section 58(1)(a)(ii) of the 2019 Act. No further appeal to this Court is provided against the order passed by the National Commission in exercise of its powers conferred under Section 58(1)(a)(iii) or under Section 58(1)(a)(iv) of the 2019 Act. In that view of the matter, the remedy which may be available to the aggrieved party against the order passed by the National Commission in an appeal under Section 58(1)(a) (iii) or Section 58(1)(a)(iv) would be to approach the concerned High Court having jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution of India." x....
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....ich are distinct and separate. The basic and the fundamental feature which is common to both the Courts and the tribunals is that they discharge judicial functions and exercise judicial powers which inherently vest in a sovereign State. Xxx XXX XXX 44. An authority other than a Court may be vested by statute with judicial power in widely different circumstances, which it would be impossible and indeed inadvisable to attempt to define exhaustively. The proper thing is to examine each case as it arises, and to ascertain whether the powers vested in the authority can be truly described as judicial functions or judicial powers of the State. For the purpose of this case, it is sufficient to say that any outside authority empowered by the State to determine conclusively the rights of two or more contending parties with regard to any matter in controversy between them satisfies the test of an authority vested with the judicial powers of the State and may be regarded as a tribunal within the meaning of Art. 136. Such a power of adjudication implies that the authority must act judicially and must determine the dispute by ascertainment of the relevant facts on the materials....
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....pproaches the concerned High Court by way of writ petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India. xxx xxx xxx 13. Now so far as the remedy which may be available under Article 136 of the Constitution of India is concerned, it cannot be disputed that the remedy by way of an appeal by special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution of India may be too expensive and as observed and held by this Court in the case of L. Chandra Kumar (supra), the said remedy can be said to be inaccessible for it to be real and effective. Therefore, when the remedy under Article 227 of the Constitution of India before the concerned High Court is provided, in that case, it would be in furtherance of the right of access to justice of the aggrieved party, may be a complainant, to approach the concerned High Court at a lower cost, rather than a Special Leave to Appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution. xxx xxx xxx 14.1. The scope and ambit of jurisdiction of Article 227 of the Constitution has been explained by this Court in the case of Estralla Rubber v. Dass Estate (P) Ltd., (2001) 8 SCC 97, which has been consistently followed by this Court (see the recent decision....