Case: Mrs. Sanjana M. Wig Vs. Hindustan Petro Corp. Ltd

under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the court should bear in mind the fact that the power to issue prerogative writs under Article 226 of the Constitution is plenary in nature and is not limited by any other provisions of the Constitution. The High Court having regard to the facts of the case, has a discretion to entertain or not to entertain a writ petition. The Court has imposed upon itself certain restrictions in the exercise of this power. (See Whirlpool Corpn. v. Registrar of Trade Marks) And this plenary right of the High Court to issue a prerogative writ will not normally be exercised by the Court to the exclusion of other available remedies unless such action of the State or its instrumentality is arbitrary and unreasonable so as to violate the constitutional mandate of Article 14 or for other valid and legitimate reasons, for which the Court thinks it necessary to exercise the said jurisdiction. 15. In Harbanslal Sahnia (supra), Lahoti, J, (as His Lordship then was), relied upon Whirpool Corporation vs. Registrar of Trade Marks [(1998) 8 SCC 1] observing that in an appropriate case, in spite of availability of the alternative remedy, the High Court may still exercise its writ jurisdiction in at least three contingencies: (i) where the writ petition seeks enforcement of any of the fundamental rights; (ii) where there is failure of principles of natural justice; or (iii) where the orders or proceedings are wholly without jurisdiction or the vires of an Act is challenged. 16. We may, however, notice that the Bench did not notice the earlier decisions in M/s Titagarh Paper Mill Ltd. (supra) and M/s Bisra Stone Lime Co. Ltd. (supra). However, there cannot be any doubt whatsoever that the question as to when such a discretionary jurisdiction is to be exercised or refused to be exercised by the High Court has to be determined having regard to the facts and circumstances of each case wherefor, no hard and fast rule can be laid down. 17. A three-Judge Bench of this Court in Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd. (supra), referring to Harbanslal Sahnia, (supra) held: There are two well recognized exceptions to the doctrine of exhaustion of statutory remedies. First is when the proceedings are taken before the forum under a provision of law which is ultra vires, it is open to a party aggrieved thereby to move the High Court for quashing the proceedings on the ground that they are incompetent without a party being obliged to wait until those proceedings run their full course. Secondly, the doctrine has no application when the impugned order has been made in violation of the principles of natural justice. We may add that where the proceedings itself are an abuse of process of law the High Court in an appropriate case can entertain a writ petition. 25. Where under a statute there is an allegation of infringement of fundamental rights or when on the undisputed facts the taxing authorities are shown to have assumed jurisdiction which they do not possess can be the grounds on which the writ petitions can be entertained. But normally, the High Court should not entertain writ petitions unless it is shown that there is something more in a case, something going to the root of the jurisdiction of the officer, something which would show that it would be a case of palpable injustice to the writ petitioner to force him to adopt the remedies provided by the statute. 18. It may be true that in a given case when an action of the party is dehors the terms and conditions contained in an agreement as also beyond the scope and ambit of domestic forum created therefor, the writ petition may be held to be maintainable; but indisputably therefor such a case has to be made out. It may also be true, as has been held by this Court in Amritsar Gas Service (supra) and E. Venkatakrishna (supra), that the arbitrator may not have the requisite jurisdiction to direct restoration of distributorship having regard to the provisions contained in Section 14 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963; but while entertaining a writ petition even in such a case, the court may not loose sight of the fact that if a serious disputed question of fact is involved arising out of a contract qua contract, ordinarily a writ petition would not be entertained. A writ petition, however, will be entertained when it involves a public law character or involves a question arising out of public law functions on the part of the respondent. 19. But in a case of this nature, while exercising a plenary jurisdiction, we must take the supervening circumstances into consideration. The parties admittedly invoked the arbitration agreement before the arbitrator. They entered into a settlement. Pursuant to or in furtherance of the said settlement, the Appellant herein was to pay a sum of Rs.4,64,586/- unto the Respondent in five installments with interest. The Appellant herein for violation of the terms of contract presumably prayed for award of damages but no reference thereto has been made in the award. In any event such claim of damages could have been made before the Arbitrator on the ground of alleged breach of contract. 20. We are further of opinion that in this matter no case has been made out for grant of a relief of restoration of the dealership. The contract stood terminated on the death of the Appellants partner. No case of novation of contract has been made out. It is also not the case of the parties that any other or further agreement between the parties came into being. The arrangement was an ad hoc one. The Appellant did not derive any legal right to continue the business for an indefinite period. Moreover, she allegedly violated the terms of the contract. 21. It may be true that the said award has been made without prejudice to the interest of the parties in this appeal; but

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 0

Reasoning from the judgment:
0[ds]Ordinarily, when a dispute between the parties requires adjudication of disputed question of facts wherefor the parties are required to lead evidence both oral and documentary which can be determined by a domestic forum chosen by the parties, the Court may not entertain a writ application13. However, access to justice by way of public law remedy would not be denied when a lis involves public law character and when the forum chosen by the parties would not be in a position to grant appropriate relief18. It may be true that in a given case when an action of the party is dehors the terms and conditions contained in an agreement as also beyond the scope and ambit of domestic forum created therefor, the writ petition may be held to be maintainable; but indisputably therefor such a case has to be made out. It may also be true, as has been held by this Court in Amritsar Gas Service (supra) and E. Venkatakrishna (supra), that the arbitrator may not have the requisite jurisdiction to direct restoration of distributorship having regard to the provisions contained in Section 14 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963; but while entertaining a writ petition even in such a case, the court may not loose sight of the fact that if a serious disputed question of fact is involved arising out of a contract qua contract, ordinarily a writ petition would not be entertained. A writ petition, however, will be entertained when it involves a public law character or involves a question arising out of public law functions on the part of the respondent19. But in a case of this nature, while exercising a plenary jurisdiction, we must take the supervening circumstances into consideration. The parties admittedly invoked the arbitration agreement before the arbitrator. They entered into a settlement. Pursuant to or in furtherance of the said settlement, the Appellant herein was to pay a sum of Rs.4,64,586/- unto the Respondent in five installments with interest. The Appellant herein for violation of the terms of contract presumably prayed for award of damages but no reference thereto has been made in the award. In any event such claim of damages could have been made before the Arbitrator on the ground of alleged breach of contract20. We are further of opinion that in this matter no case has been made out for grant of a relief of restoration of the dealership. The contract stood terminated on the death of the Appellants partner. No case of novation of contract has been made out. It is also not the case of the parties that any other or further agreement between the parties came into being. The arrangement was an ad hoc one. The Appellant did not derive any legal right to continue the business for an indefinite period. Moreover, she allegedly violated the terms of the contract21. It may be true that the said award has been made without prejudice to the interest of the parties in this appeal;