Case: Bala Financier Private Limited Vs. Ambala Bus Syndicate Private Limited

(2) On an appeal being carried, the division benchthe materials on record and then on setting aside the findings of the company judge, came to hold that the hire purchase agreements are invalid and unenforceable; and no liability can be fastened on the appellant company on the basis of such invalid hire purchase agreements. The division bench also, on appreciating the evidence ofBhupender Singh, came to the conclusion that there has been a fair admission on his part that the vehicles in question had not been owned or possessed by the company and, in fact, thehire purchase agreements had been entered into without the conditions precedent being satisfied. The division bench did consider the entry made in the ledger/books of account which was the only documentary evidence appear to have been adduced in support in support of the claim in question and ultimately came to hold that the agreements were not only invalid for the grounds indicated earlier, but they were not baked by any consideration. With these conclusions, the findings of the company judge having been set aside and the company appeals having been allowed, the present appeals have been preferred.

Reasoning:
(4) Though ordinarily, this Court is not required tothe evidence on the basis of which the court of appeal has based its conclusion, in view of the contention raised, we have been taken through the evidence of the said Bhupender Singh. In our considered opinion, it is difficult for us to agree with the submissions that the evidence of Bhupender Singh has either been misread or misconstrued by the division bench while considering the legality of the conclusions arrived at by the learned single judge. That apart, as stated earlier, the only item of documentary evidence which had been produced in the case in question is the entry in the ledger. Even thewhich could have possibly corroborated the factum of payment of considerations, had not been produced before the company judge and no reason has been indicated as to why such documents had not been produced. Be that as it may, the ultimate conclusion of the division bench that the agreement is a sham transaction not backed by any consideration cannot be said to be perverse in any manner on the materials produced in the proceeding/We are, therefore, not inclined to interfere with the conclusions arrived at by the division bench in the appeals preferred against the judgment of the company judge.(5) Having perused the impugned judgment of the division bench and on examining the relevant materials that were placed before us by Mr. Mathur, appearing for the appellants, we see no infirmity with the conclusions arrived at by the division bench.