Case: State Of Haryana  Vs. Northern Indian Glass Industries Ltd

duly considered. 18. In the Chairman Board of Mining Examination and Chief Inspector of Mines v. Ramjee, (1977) 2 SCC 256 , Krishna Iyer J, one of the foremost apostles of human rights and natural justice, advocated that the Court ?.... cannot look at law in the abstract or natural justice as a mere artefact. Nor can we fit into a rigid mould the concept of reasonable opportunity..... If the authority which takes the final decision acts mechanically and without applying its own mind, the order may be bad, but if the decision-making body, after fair and independent consideration, reaches a conclusion which tallies with the recommendations of the subordinate authority which held the preliminary enquiry, there is no error in law. ...? It would also be useful to recollect the observations of this Court in Union of India v. Jesus Sales Corporation, (1996) 4 SCC 69 wherein it has been enunciated that the dictat of natural justice, viz. affording an opportunity to the person concerned to present his case would be met if the person concerned had the opportunity to present his case and that all points were taken into consideration. More recently, in Patel Engineering Ltd. v. Union of India (2012) 11 SCC 257, this Court has opined ?that there is no inviolable rule that a personal hearing of the affected party must precede every decision of the State?. 19. In the instant case, the conduct of the Respondent has not only been utterly unfair but, in fact, it smacks of fraud, malpractice and malfeasance. It cannot be justified as a simple error which may exonerate it of the allegations levelled against it by the Appellant State. According to its own affidavit filed before the High Court, the Respondent has executed 118 Sale Deeds in favour of various third parties, with several sales being in 2004-05. This is sought to be vindicated by the Respondent on the ground that since the land was returned to it in 2004 after the quashing of the acquisition was set aside by this Court, it could have executed final Sale Deeds in respect of Agreements to Sell of 1991 post repossession of the land. Whether it had entered into Agreements to Sell with third parties in 1991 or accepted Earnest Money thereagainst is not an enquiry to be made here. It is also the case of the Respondent that after the land remained in possession of the original landowners for twelve long years, it was beyond its control to establish the unit as was proposed and postulated at the time of acquisition and so in bona fide belief it sold the remaining land as well. The Respondent cannot predicate that after paying the cost of the land to the Appellant State and the enhanced compensation to the original landowners, it had become absolute owner of the land and consequently it could use the land in the manner it liked. 20. Some brief words with regard to persons who have purchased plots from the Respondent. If a diligent title-search had been conducted by them it would indubitably have disclosed that the sale transaction was contrary to the purpose of the acquisition, was not consonant with the clauses of the contract executed by the Appellant State and the Respondent and was intrinsically inconsistent with the terms and the tenor of law. Equities cannot emerge in favour of such purchasers who cannot but be presumed to have purposefully transgressed the law. Suchlike persons are not justified or entitled to seek impleadment in these proceedings. The impleadment applications are meritless and are dismissed. 21. The prayer in the writ petition was for the issuance of a writ of Certiorari quashing the Resumption Notice dated 6.1.2005 issued by the Appellant State. In the impugned Judgment the Division Bench has opined that the principles of natural justice applied irrespective of the nature of the cause or the gravity thereof and are not mere platitudes. In our analysis of the exposition of law contained hereinabove, we think that this unjustly sets far too broad and wide a parameter to the perceptions of natural justice. Quite to the contrary, Courts should be ?pragmatic rather than pedantic, realistic rather than doctrinaire, functional rather than formal and practical rather than precedential?. We cannot lose perspective of the fact that protracted litigation had already taken place between the parties as a consequence of which the legal position of all affected parties had already become well-known. It seems to us that in the writ petition, the challenge was predicated on the perceived failure to adhere to the audi alterem partem rule and not to the correctness of the decision to resume possession of the land. In any event, we harbour no manner of doubt that the circumstances of the case warrant the issuance of the Resumption Notice of the land by the Appellant State. We also note that the ‘Resumption Notice? has been issued to the Respondent alone which, because of its actions, has forfeited whatsoever rights it may have enjoyed over the land in question. In fact the Respondent may be liable to make over to the Appellant State all the profit that it has illegally and unjustifiably reaped in its misutilization of the lands acquired for it for the purpose of setting up an industrial unit for manufacture of sheet glass with the accompanying projection of providing employment to almost a thousand workmen. How this Resumption Notice will be implemented against third parties is a matter on which we would think it prudent not to make any observations. The Appellant State may not treat the observations made by us above pertaining to third parties who have purchased land from the Respondent as conclusively circumscribing any relief to them and/or rendering it unnecessary to give any hearing to them. The Appellant State will avowedly have to proceed in accordance with law, especially since it has not maintained a watchful eye on the manner in which the land was dealt with by the Respondent.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]19. In the instant case, the conduct of the Respondent has not only been utterly unfair but, in fact, it smacks of fraud, malpractice and malfeasance. It cannot be justified as a simple error which may exonerate it of the allegations levelled against it by the Appellant State. According to its own affidavit filed before the High Court, the Respondent has executed 118 Sale Deeds in favour of various third parties, with several sales being in 2004-05. This is sought to be vindicated by the Respondent on the ground that since the land was returned to it in 2004 after the quashing of the acquisition was set aside by this Court, it could have executed final Sale Deeds in respect of Agreements to Sell of 1991 post repossession of the land. Whether it had entered into Agreements to Sell with third parties in 1991 or accepted Earnest Money thereagainst is not an enquiry to be made here. It is also the case of the Respondent that after the land remained in possession of the original landowners for twelve long years, it was beyond its control to establish the unit as was proposed and postulated at the time of acquisition and so in bona fide belief it sold the remaining land as well. The Respondent cannot predicate that after paying the cost of the land to the Appellant State and the enhanced compensation to the original landowners, it had become absolute owner of the land and consequently it could use the land in the manner it liked20. Some brief words with regard to persons who have purchased plots from the Respondent. If a diligent title-search had been conducted by them it would indubitably have disclosed that the sale transaction was contrary to the purpose of the acquisition, was not consonant with the clauses of the contract executed by the Appellant State and the Respondent and was intrinsically inconsistent with the terms and the tenor of law. Equities cannot emerge in favour of such purchasers who cannot but be presumed to have purposefully transgressed the law. Suchlike persons are not justified or entitled to seek impleadment in these proceedings. The impleadment applications are meritless and are dismissed21. The prayer in the writ petition was for the issuance of a writ of Certiorari quashing the Resumption Notice dated 6.1.2005 issued by the Appellant State. In the impugned Judgment the Division Bench has opined that the principles of natural justice applied irrespective of the nature of the cause or the gravity thereof and are not mere platitudes. In our analysis of the exposition of law contained hereinabove, we think that this unjustly sets far too broad and wide a parameter to the perceptions of natural justice. Quite to the contrary, Courts should be ?pragmatic rather than pedantic, realistic rather than doctrinaire, functional rather than formal and practical rather than precedential?. We cannot lose perspective of the fact that protracted litigation had already taken place between the parties as a consequence of which the legal position of all affected parties had already become well-known. It seems to us that in the writ petition, the challenge was predicated on the perceived failure to adhere to the audi alterem partem rule and not to the correctness of the decision to resume possession of the land. In any event, we harbour no manner of doubt that the circumstances of the case warrant the issuance of the Resumption Notice of the land by the Appellant State. We also note that the ‘Resumption Notice? has been issued to the Respondent alone which, because of its actions, has forfeited whatsoever rights it may have enjoyed over the land in question. In fact the Respondent may be liable to make over to the Appellant State all the profit that it has illegally and unjustifiably reaped in its misutilization of the lands acquired for it for the purpose of setting up an industrial unit for manufacture of sheet glass with the accompanying projection of providing employment to almost a thousand workmen. How this Resumption Notice will be implemented against third parties is a matter on which we would think it prudent not to make any observations. The Appellant State may not treat the observations made by us above pertaining to third parties who have purchased land from the Respondent as conclusively circumscribing any relief to them and/or rendering it unnecessary to give any hearing to them. The Appellant State will avowedly have to proceed in accordance with law, especially since it has not maintained a watchful eye on the manner in which the land was dealt with by the Respondent