vil Appeal Nos
1930 33 of 1989
From the Judgment and Order dated 24987 of the Patna High Court in CWC Nos 489501502 and 1173 of 1982 R
G Ramaswamy Additional Solicitor General Girish Chandra and CVS Rao for the Appellants
MC Bhandare RS Meratia SS Johar and A Mariarpu tham for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KULDIP SINGH J
The coal resources in the country have been brought under State ownership and control by The Cook ing Coal Mines Nationalisation Act 1972 hereinafter called the Cooking Act  and the Coal Mines Nationalisa tion Act 1973 hereinafter called the Coal Act 
These Acts completely divest the ownership rights in the mines from the owners to the Central Government
The Acts provide for payment of specified amount to each of the owners in lieu of 458 take over
Out of the said amount the claims of the credi tors of the owner and other liabilities against him are to be satisfied and the balance if any is to be paid to the owner
The Acts further provide for accrual of interest on the payable amount for the procedural period
Section 185 of the Coal Act and Section 215 of the Cooking Act provide that the interest accruing on the amount shall enure to the benefit of the owners of coal mines
The short question for consideration in these appeals is whether the amount of interest which accrues under the Act is to be paid in its entirety to the owner or the same is also available along with the principal amount for disburse ment to the claimants of the owner
The provisions of the Cooking Act and the Coal Act are identical
Both the Acts were enacted with the same object and purport one relating to the Cooking Coal mines and the other to the coal mines
The Learned Counsel at the hearing referred to the Coal Act
We may briefly notice the scheme of the said Act
Section 2 gives definitions
Section 3 transfers the rights title and interest of owners in relation to the coal mines and vests tile same in the Central Government
Section 5 empowers the Central Government to direct vesting of such rights in a Government company
Section 6 makes the vesting of all properties in the Central Government free from mort gage charge lien or any other incumbrance
Section 7 provides that the Central Government or Government company shall not be liable for liabilities incurred by the owners prior to the take over
Under Section 8 the owner of every coal mine shall be given by the Central Government in cash and in the manner specified under the Act the amount men tioned in the Schedule to the Act
Section 92 provides for payment of simple interest at the rate of 4 from the date on which the Coal Act received the assent of the President upto the date when the amount is paid by the Central Govern ment to the Commissioner
Section 17 provides for appoint ment of Commissioner of payments by the Central Government for the purpose of disbursing the amounts payable to the owner of each coal mine
Section 181 lays down that the Central Government shall within 30 days from the specified date pay in cash to the Commissioner for payment to the owner of a coal mine an amount specified in the Schedule and also other amount payable to the owner under Section 9
Section 182 provides further amount due to the owner in lieu of management of the coal mine by the Central Govern ment and simple interest at the rate of 4 on such amount
Under Section 183 a deposit account is to be opened by the Central Govern 459 ment in favour of the Commissioner in the Public Account of India and every amount paid under the Act to the Commission er has to be deposited by him to the credit of the said deposit account which is to be operated by the Commissioner
Section 184 directs the Commissioner to maintain separate records in respect of each coal mine in relation to which payments have been made to him under the Act
Section 185 provides that interest accruing on the amounts standing to the credit of the deposit account shall enure to the benefit of the owners of coal mines and shall also be payable to the Commissioner in addition to the sum referred to in sub section 1
Under Section 20 every person having a claim against the owner of a coal mine has to prefer such claim before the Commissioner within thirty days from the speci fied date
Sections 21 and 22 give first priority to the claims to arrears of wages provident fund pension fund gratuity fund or any other fund established for the welfare of the persons employed by the owner of a coal mine
Next come the secured creditors of the owners
Under Section 23 the Commissioner adjudicates the claims and can accept or reject the same
Section 24A provides that where any amount is payable in respect of a claim admitted under the Act the interest payable on such amount for any period shall be at such rate not exceeding the rate of interest accruing on any amount deposited by the Commissioner under Section 18
Finally under Section 26 if out of the moneys paid to the Commissioner in relation to a coal mine there is a balance left after meeting the liabilities of all the secured and unsecured creditors he shall disburse such balance to the owner of such coal mine
Relevant provisions of the Coal Act are reproduced hereinaf ter Section 3 Acquisition of rights of owners in respect of coal mines 1 On the appointed day the right title and interest of the owners in relation to the coal mines specified in the Schedule shall stand transferred to and shall vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all incumbrances
 Section 8 Payment of amount to owners of coal mines1 The owner of every coal mine or group of coal mines specified in the second column of the Schedule shall be given by the Central Government in cash and in the manner specified in Chapter VI for the vesting in it under Section 3 of the right title and interest of the amount specified against it in the corresponding entry in the fifth 460 column of the Schedule Section 17 Commissioner of Payments to be appointed 1 For the purpose of disbursing the amount payable to the owner of each coal mine or group of coal mines the Central Government shall appoint such person as it may think fit to be the Commissioner of Payments Section 18 Payment by the Central Government to the Commissioner 1 The Central Govern ment shall within thirty days from the speci fied date pay in cash to the Commissioner for payment to the owner of a coal mine an amount equal to the amount specified against the coal mine in the Schedule and shall also pay to the Commissioner such sums as may be due to the owner of a coal mine under Section 9
2 In addition to the sum referred to in sub section 1 the Central Government shall pay in cash to the Commissioner such amount as may become due to the owner of a coal mine in relation to the period during which the management of the coal mine remains vested in the Central Government and simple interest at the rate of four per cent per annum on such amount for the period commencing on the 1st day of July 1975 and ending on the date of payment of such amount to the Commis sioner
3 A deposit account shall be opened by the Central Government in favour of the Commissioner in the Public Account of India and every amount paid under this Act to the Commissioner shall be deposited by him to the credit of the said deposit account in the Public Account of India and thereafter the said deposit account shall be operated by the Commissioner
4 Separate records shall be main tained by the Commissioner in respect of each coal mine in relation to which payments have been made to him under this Act
Amended 5 Interest accruing on the amounts standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in sub section 3 shall enure to the benefit of the owners of coal mines and shall also be payable to the Commissioner in addition 461 to the sum referred to in sub section 1
Unamended 5 Interest accruing on the amounts standing to the credit of the deposit account referred to in subsection 3 shall enure to the benefit of the owners of the coal mines
6 Reference in this section to the owner of a coal mine shall in relation to a group of coal mines specified in the Schedule be construed as references to the owner of that group of coal mines
 Section 24 Disbursement of money by the Commissioner to claimants Where after meet ing the claims admitted by him of secured creditors and unsecured creditors having priority under sub section 2 of Section 22 the total amount of claims of other unsecured creditors admitted by the Commissioner does not exceed the total amount of the money cred ited to the account of a coal mine every such admitted claim shall be paid in full and the balance if any shall be paid to the owner but where such amount is insufficient to meet in full the total amount of the admitted claims all such claims shall abate in equal proportions and be paid accordingly  Section 24A Interest on admitted claims Notwithstanding any award decree or order of any court tribunal or other authori ty passed before the appointed day in rela tion to any coal mine where any amount is payable in respect of a claim admitted under this Act the interest payable on such amount for any period after the appointed day shall be at such rate not exceeding the rate of interest accruing on any amount deposited by the Commissioner under Section 18 Section 26 Disbursement of amounts to the owners of coal mines 1 If out of the moneys paid to him in relation to a coal mine or group of coal mines specified in the second column of the Schedule there is a balance left after meeting the liabilities of all the secured and unsecured creditors the Commis sioner shall disburse such balance to the owner of such coal mine or group of coal mines
 462 The scheme of the Coal Act and the bare reading of its provisions make it clear that the Commissioner has to adju dicate the claims of creditors of the mine owners in accord ance with the priorities
The claims accepted by the Commis sioner are to be satisfied out of the amount payable to the mine owners and the balance left after meeting the claims of all the secured and unsecured creditors is to be paid to the owners of the coal mines
The High Court has accepted the contention of the mine owners and has held that the interest accrued under the Coal Act cannot be made available to the Commissioner for meeting the claims of the creditors of the mine owner or to satisfy their other liabilities
According to the High Court whole of the interest amount is to be exclusively given to the mine owners and the claims and liabilities are to be satis fied only out of the principal amount payable to the mine owners under the Coal Act
To support these conclusions the High Court has given three reasons which we may presently examine
The High Court s conclusions are primarily based on the interpretation of Section 185 of the Coal Act
The High Court has quoted the meaning of words enure and benefit from various dictionaries
No dictionary or any out side assistance is needed to understand the meaning of these simple words in the context and scheme of the Coal Act
The interest has to enure to the benefit of the owners of the coal mines
The claims before the Commissioner under the Coal Act are from the creditors of the owners and the li abilities sought to be discharged are also of the owners of the coal mines
When the debts are paid and the liabilities discharged it is only the owners of coal mines who are benefited
Taking away the interest amount by the owners without discharging their debts and liabilities would be unreasonable
They have only to adopt delaying tactics to postpone the disbursement of claims and consequently earn more interest
Due to such delay the owner would get huge amount of interest though ultimately he may not get a penny out of principal amount on the final settlement of claims
It would amount to conferring unjust benefit on the owners which can never be the intention of the Parliament
We do not agree with the interpretation given by the High Court and hold that the interest accruing under the Coal Act is the money paid to the Commissioner in relation to the coal mine and the same has to be utilised by the Commissioner in meeting the claims of the creditors and discharging other liabilities in accordance with the provisions of the Coal Act
The High Court noticed that apart from providing priorities for 463 claims the Parliament has also indicated the accounts from which such claims are to be satisfied
According to the High Court since no mention has been made therein with regard to the recovery of any amount of claim out of the interest the same cannot be used for that purpose and has to be exclu sively paid to the owners
We do not agree with the reason ing
Under Section 185 of the Coal Act the interest accru ing on the amount standing to the credit of the deposit account shall also be payable to the Commissioner in addi tion to the sum referred to in sub section 1 of Section 18
Section 26 further provides that out of the moneys paid to the Commissioner in relation to the coal mine if there is a balance left after meeting the liabilities of all the secured and unsecured creditors such balance shall be disbursed to the owner of the coal mine
It cannot be dis puted that the interest paid to the Commissioner under Section 185 is money paid to him in relation to a coal mine and as such it has to be utilised in meeting the claims of the creditors of the mine owners and their other liabili ties
Even otherwise interest amount in the present context has no separate entity
As the lamb belongs to the owner of the sheep the interest goes with the principal
The inter est accrued under the Coal Act is thus part of the kitty out of which the claims and liabilities are to be met
The High Court has further held that under Section 26 of the Coal Act moneys paid to the Commissioner in relation to a coal mine do not include the money accrued by way of interest
There is no basis for this interpretation
The plain reading of Section 26 read with Section 185 of the Coal Act makes it clear that moneys paid to the Commissioner in relation to a coal mine are to be used for satisfying the debts and liabilities
Interest amount accrued under the Coal Act is undoubtedly money in relation to coal mine and as such it squarely comes within the ambit of Section 26 of the Coal Act
The amended Section 185 of the Coal Act which escaped the notice of the High Court provides that the amount of interest accruing on the amounts standing to the credit of the deposit account is also payable to the Commissioner
Section 223 of the Coal Act makes the assets in the hands of Commissioner available for satisfying the debts in order of priorities
The assets of the erstwhile owner lying in the hands of the Commissioner of payment would include the interest which has been paid to the Commissioner under Section 185
Similarly Section 24 of the Coal Act says that unsecured creditors will be paid out of the money credited to the account of coal mine
Moneys credited to the account of coal mine also include interest
It is thus clear from the scheme and plain reading of various provisions of the 464 Coal Act that the interest amount has to be made available to the Commissioner to meet the debts and liabilities
We may refer to Section 24A of the Coal Act which fixes the maximum interest payable to the successful claimants
It is provided that interest shall be paid at such rate not exceeding the rate of interest accruing on any amount depos ited by the Commissioner under Section 18
Had the Parlia ment intended to give interest to the owners there would have no necessity for fixing the maximum limit of interest payable to the claimant with reference to the rate of inter est accruing to the scheduled amount
The two acts being identical whatever we have said about the Coal Act is equally applicable to the Cooking Act
We therefore see no legal or equitable grounds to sustain the judgment of the High Court
The appeals are accepted judgment of the High Court is set aside and the writ petitions of the respondents filed in the High Court are dismissed
There shall be no order as to costs
GN Appeals allowed


Summary:
The respondent a Central Government officer was trans ferred from Calcutta to Jaipur by an order dated 14th March 1985 and relieved of his duty the next day
He however filed a writ petition before the High Court and obtained an interim injunction
The writ petition was subsequently transferred to the Central Administrative Tribunal which held that the order of transfer was not mala fide or unfair and there was no ground for interfering with it
It however directed the appellants to pay all arrears of salary with allowances to the respondent and not to issue the release order unless all his emoluments were paid
Allowing the appeal HELD The Tribunal having recorded positive findings that the transfer order was legal and valid and it was not vitiated by any unfairness or mala fide should have dis missed the writ petition
It had no jurisdiction to issue further directions regarding the release order and the payment of emoluments
398H The respondent had already been relieved from the Cal cutta office with effect from 15th March 1985
Therefore there was no question of issuing any fresh release order
399A