Source: https://www.lawweb.in/2017/10/whether-judge-should-remain-passive-to.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 10:37:31+00:00

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Law Web: Whether judge should remain passive to maintain his neutrality?
Whether judge should remain passive to maintain his neutrality?
"In the system of trial that we evolved in this country, the Judge sits to hear and determine the issues raised by the parties, not to conduct an investigation or examination on behalf of the society at large, as happens, we believe, in some foreign countries."
40. Lord Denning further observed in the said case of Jones (supra) that "`It's all very well to paint justice blind, but she does better without a bandage round her eyes. She should be blind indeed to favour or prejudice, but clear to see which way lies the truth..."
2. This appeal emanates from the judgment and order dated 5.5.2009 passed by the High Court of Bombay, Bench at Goa in Civil Revision Application No.3 of 2009.
3. Appellant No.1 and respondent No.1, Erasmo Jack de Sequeira (now dead) were sister and brother, hereinafter referred to as appellant and respondent respectively.
brother of the appellant was also a very influential and important Member of Parliament. He was also very active in the local politics in Goa.
"The claim put forth by Shrimati Maria Teresa de Sequeria from Panaji, in respect of Chalta No.14 of P.T. Sheet 65 was inquired into and it was found that the same belongs to the said Maria Teresa de Sequeria in view of Inventory Proceedings No.9- 1968 [1075-935] - vide Certificate issued by the Court of Civil Judge Senior Division, Panaji dated 27.5.72 and as such her title and possession to the Chalta No.14 of P.T. Sheet No.65 is confirmed."
occupation basis. Further, it is submitted that the possession of the suit property always remained with the appellant.
10. The appellant submitted that she got married on 8.9.1974 to an Officer of the Indian Navy who was posted from time to time in different places in India. She also submitted that the respondent - her brother requested her that as his office is just adjacent to the suit property, therefore, it would be convenient for him to run his office and to keep an eye on the suit property of the appellant. Therefore, the suit property was given to the respondent only as a caretaker.
12. According to the appellant, the respondent handed over the suit property to his sister Maria in the first week of May, 1991 and requested her that some items which were already lying in the suit property which the respondent did not immediately require in his new place may be kept in the suit property. According to the appellant, her brother before shifting to the tenanted flat, handed over the keys of the house to the appellant. The appellant did not take any receipt from her brother or click a photograph to create evidence showing handing over of the custodian possession of the suit property.
The respondent shifted to his new flat and the suit property was lying almost vacant because the appellant along with her husband was living outside Goa on his different official postings.
13. According to the appellant, the details of electricity, water and telephone bills clearly demonstrate that the house was locked and the small amounts payable in the said months, i.e., August, September, October and November in the year 1991, February 1992 also showed very nominal payments of Rs.30/-, Rs.33/-, Rs.68/- which conclusively proved that a house comprising of several rooms, drawing, dining, bathrooms, verandah, lawns etc. was lying vacant.
15. According to the appellant, the impugned judgment of the High Court by which the judgment of the Trial Court was affirmed is totally contrary to the law laid down by this Court in Mahabir Prasad Jain v. Ganga Singh (1999) 8 SCC 274.
It was also asserted by the appellant that this Court in the aforementioned case has laid down the parameters of Section 6 of the Special Relief Act, 1963. In the instant case, the Courts below were oblivious of the principle under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act. The appellant urged that the respondent's suit for injunction was not maintainable as he could not claim to be in lawful and legal possession of the premises at all. The appellant argued that the Courts below have missed the main issue as the respondent was merely in custody of the house on behalf of the appellant. According to her, a caretaker can never sue a valid title-holder of the property.
17. On 17.6.1992, the respondent filed a suit for permanent and mandatory injunction in the Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division at Panaji as a Special Civil Suit No.131/92/A. On 22.6.1992, an ex-parte order for depositing the keys was passed while the appellant and her family members were living in the suit premises. The Trial Court decreed the suit.
18. According to the appellant, the impugned judgment of the High Court is contrary to the ratio of the judgment of this Court in Rame Gowda (dead) by LRs. v. M. Varadappa Naidu (dead) by LRs. and Another (2004) 1 SCC 769 wherein a three-Judge Bench of this Court has observed that possession is no good against the rightful owner and that the assumption that he is in peaceful possession will not work and cannot operate against the true lawful owner.
19. Reliance has also been placed by the appellant on Southern Roadways Ltd., Madurai v. S.M. Krishnan (1989) 4 SCC 603 wherein this Court has held that it is the settled law that agent has no possession of his own and caretaker's possession is the possession of the principal. This Court has taken the view that possession of the agent is the possession of the principal and in view of the fiduciary relationship, the agent cannot be permitted to claim his own possession. Thus, according to the appellant, the respondent had no right, title and/or interest in the suit property and was not in lawful possession. Therefore, the suit for injunction under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act is totally misconceived. The appellant contended that the High Court in the impugned judgment has gravely erred in affirming the judgment of the Trial Court.
22. The learned counsel for the parties reiterated the submissions made before the Courts below. The appellant submitted that she is a helpless and hapless sister of the respondent who has been kept out from her own house for more than two decades. The appellant is the owner of the suit property which is evident from the Certificate of the Probate Proceedings known as Inventory Proceeding No.1075/935.
She further submitted that the respondent, her brother, was a party in the said Probate Proceedings where the appellant acquired the title of the suit property on 27.5.1972. The respondent collected the sale consideration amount on 17th March, 1972 vide Cheque No.33559 drawn on Bank of India on behalf of his aunt in the auction proceedings.
25. According to law laid down by this Court in Rame Gowda (dead) by LRs. (supra), it is the settled legal position that a possessory suit is good against the whole world except the rightful owner. It is not maintainable against the true owner.
26. This Court in Anima Mallick v. Ajoy Kumar Roy and Another (2000) 4 SCC 119 held that where the sister gave possession as gratuitous to the brother, this Court restored possession to the sister as it was purely gratuitous basis and the sister could have reclaimed possession even without knowledge of the brother.
27. According to the appellant, this Court in Sopan Sukhdeo Sable and Others v. Assistant Charity Commissioner and Others (2004) 3 SCC 137 has observed that no injunction can be granted against the true owner and Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act cannot be invoked to protect the wrongdoer who suppressed the material facts from the Courts.
29. The appellant relied on Automobile Products India Limited v. Das John Peter and Others (2010) 12 SCC 593 and Ramrameshwari Devi and Others v. Nirmala Devi and Others (2011) 8 SCC 249 where the Court has laid down that dilatory tactics, misconceived injunction suits create only incentives for wrongdoers.
31. In this unfortunate litigation, the Court's serious endeavour has to be to find out where in fact the truth lies.
The truth should be the guiding star in the entire judicial process.
32. Truth alone has to be the foundation of justice. The entire judicial system has been created only to discern and find out the real truth. Judges at all levels have to seriously engage themselves in the journey of discovering the truth.
That is their mandate, obligation and bounden duty.
whether discretionary or obligatory-according to law in dispensing justice because it is the duty of a Court not only to do justice but also to ensure that justice is being done.
"Every trial is voyage of discovery in which truth is the quest"
43. "Satyameva Jayate" (Literally: "Truth Stands Invincible") is a mantra from the ancient scripture Mundaka Upanishad.
"Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood. Through truth the divine path is spread out by which the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled, reach where that supreme treasure of Truth resides."
2.2.......... In the adversarial system truth is supposed to emerge from the respective versions of the facts presented by the prosecution and the defence before a neutral judge. The judge acts like an umpire to see whether the prosecution has been able to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. The State discharges the obligation to protect life, liberty and property of the citizens by taking suitable preventive and punitive measures which also serve the object of preventing private retribution so essential for maintenance of peace and law and order in the society doubt and gives the benefit of doubt to the accused. It is the parties that determine the scope of dispute and decide largely, autonomously and in a selective manner on the evidence that they decide to present to the court. The trial is oral, continuous and confrontational. The parties use cross-examination of witnesses to undermine the opposing case and to discover information the other side has not brought out. The judge in his anxiety to maintain his position of neutrality never takes any initiative to discover truth. He does not correct the aberrations in the investigation or in the matter of production of evidence before court........"
2.15 "The Adversarial System lacks dynamism because it has no lofty ideal to inspire. It has not been entrusted with a positive duty to discover truth as in the Inquisitorial System. When the investigation is perfunctory or ineffective, Judges seldom take any initiative to remedy the situation. During the trial, the Judges do not bother if relevant evidence is not produced and plays a passive role as he has no duty to search for truth....."
45. In Chandra Shashi v. Anil Kumar Verma (1995) 1 SCC 421 to enable the Courts to ward off unjustified interference in their working, those who indulge in immoral acts like perjury, pre-variation and motivated falsehoods have to be appropriately dealt with, without which it would not be possible for any Court to administer justice in the true sense and to the satisfaction of those who approach it in the hope that truth would ultimately prevail. People would have faith in Courts when they would find that truth alone triumphs in Courts.
47. In James v. Giles et al. v. State of Maryland 386 U.S.
66, 87, S.Ct. 793), the US Supreme Court, in ruling on the conduct of prosecution in suppressing evidence favourable to the defendants and use of perjured testimony held that such rules existed for a purpose as a necessary component of the search for truth and justice that judges, like prosecutors must undertake. It further held that the State's obligation under the Due Process Clause "is not to convict, but to see that so far as possible, truth emerges."
48. The obligation to pursue truth has been carried to extremes. Thus, in United States v. J.Lee Havens 446 U.S.
620, 100 St.Ct.1912, it was held that the government may use illegally obtained evidence to impeach a defendant's fraudulent statements during cross-examination for the purpose of seeking justice, for the purpose of "arriving at the truth, which is a fundamental goal of our legal system".
"There has been a certain lack of candour," "in much of the discussion of the theme [of judges' humanity], or rather perhaps in the refusal to discuss it, as if judges must lose respect and confidence by the reminder that they are subject to human limitations." I do not doubt the grandeur of conception which lifts them into the realm of pure reason, above and beyond the sweep of perturbing and deflecting forces. None the less, if there is anything of reality in my analysis of the judicial process, they do not stand aloof on these chill and distant heights; and we shall not help the cause of truth by acting and speaking as if they do."
"For issues in which stability is actually more important than the substance of the solution - and there are many such case - I will join the majority, without restating my dissent each time. Only when my dissenting opinion reflects an issue that is central for me - that goes to the core of my role as a judge - will I not capitulate, and will I continue to restate my dissenting opinion: "Truth or stability - truth is preferable".
"On the contrary, public confidence means ruling according to the law and according to the judge's conscience, whatever the attitude of the public may be. Public confidence means giving expression to history, not to hysteria. Public confidence is ensured by the recognition that the judge is doing justice within the framework of the law and its provisions. Judges must act - inside and outside the court - in a manner that preserves public confidence in them. They must understand that judging is not merely a job but a way of life. It is a way of life that does not include the pursuit of material wealth or publicity; it is a way of life based on spiritual wealth; it is a way of life that includes an objective and impartial search for truth."
53. Pleadings are the foundation of litigation. In pleadings, only the necessary and relevant material must be included and unnecessary and irrelevant material must be excluded.
Pleadings are given utmost importance in similar systems of adjudication, such as, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
57. After enactment of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, much greater emphasis is given on pleadings in the United Kingdom.
Similarly, in the United States of America, much greater emphasis is given on pleadings, particularly after two well known decisions of the US Supreme Court, viz., Bell Atlantic Corporation et al. v. William Twombly [550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955] and John. D. Ashcroft, Former Attorney General, et al. v. Javaid Iqbal et al. [556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct.1937].
59. In Ashcroft (supra) the majority Judges of the U.S.
"Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice. Although for the purposes of a motion to dismiss we must take all of the factual allegations in the complaint as a true, we are not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation ... ... ... only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss."
65. A suit can be filed by the title holder for recovery of possession or it can be one for ejectment of an ex-lessee or for mandatory injunction requiring a person to remove himself or it can be a suit underSection 6 of the Specific Relief Act to recover possession.
66. A title suit for possession has two parts - first, adjudication of title, and second, adjudication of possession.
If the title dispute is removed and the title is established in one or the other, then, in effect, it becomes a suit for ejectment where the defendant must plead and prove why he must not be ejected.
68. In order to do justice, it is necessary to direct the parties to give all details of pleadings with particulars. Once the title is prima facie established, it is for the person who is resisting the title holder's claim to possession to plead with sufficient particularity on the basis of his claim to remain in possession and place before the Court all such documents as in the ordinary course of human affairs are expected to be there.
Only if the pleadings are sufficient, would an issue be struck and the matter sent to trial, where the onus will be on him to prove the averred facts and documents.
75. On vague pleadings, no issue arises. Only when he so establishes, does the question of framing an issue arise.
Framing of issues is an extremely important stage in a civil trial. Judges are expected to carefully examine the pleadings and documents before framing of issues in a given case.
"28. The expressions `due process of law', `due course of law' and `recourse to law' have been interchangeably used in the decisions referred to above which say that the settled possession of even a person in unlawful possession cannot be disturbed `forcibly' by the true owner taking law in his own hands. All these expressions, however, mean the same thing -- ejectment from settled possession can only be had by recourse to a court of law. Clearly, `due process of law' or `due course of law', here, simply mean that a person in settled possession cannot be ejected without a court of law having adjudicated upon his rights qua the true owner.
Now, this `due process' or `due course' condition is satisfied the moment the rights of the parties are adjudicated upon by a court of competent jurisdiction. It does not matter who brought the action to court. It could be the owner in an action for enforcement of his right to eject the person in unlawful possession. It could be the person who is sought to be ejected, in an action preventing the owner from ejecting him. Whether the action is for enforcement of a right (recovery of possession) or protection of a right (injunction against dispossession), is not of much consequence. What is important is that in either event it is an action before the court and the court adjudicates upon it. If that is done then, the `bare minimum' requirement of `due process' or `due course' of law would stand satisfied as recourse to law would have been taken. In this context, when a party approaches a court seeking a protective remedy such as an injunction and it fails in setting up a good case, can it then say that the other party must now institute an action in a court of law for enforcing his rights i.e., for taking back something from the first party who holds it unlawfully, and, till such time, the court hearing the injunction action must grant an injunction anyway? I would think not. In any event, the `recourse to law' stipulation stands satisfied when a judicial determination is made with regard to the first party's protective action. Thus, in the present case, the plaintiff's failure to make out a case for an injunction does not mean that its consequent cessation of user of the said two rooms would have been brought about without recourse to law."
84. False claims and defences are really serious problems with real estate litigation, predominantly because of ever escalating prices of the real estate. Litigation pertaining to valuable real estate properties is dragged on by unscrupulous litigants in the hope that the other party will tire out and ultimately would settle with them by paying a huge amount.
This happens because of the enormous delay in adjudication of cases in our Courts. If pragmatic approach is adopted, then this problem can be minimized to a large extent.
85. This Court in a recent judgment in Ramrameshwari Devi and Others (supra) aptly observed at page 266 that unless wrongdoers are denied profit from frivolous litigation, it would be difficult to prevent it. In order to curb uncalled for and frivolous litigation, the Courts have to ensure that there is no incentive or motive for uncalled for litigation. It is a matter of common experience that Court's otherwise scarce time is consumed or more appropriately, wasted in a large number of uncalled for cases. In this very judgment, the Court provided that this problem can be solved or at least be minimized if exemplary cost is imposed for instituting frivolous litigation.
The Court observed at pages 267-268 that imposition of actual, realistic or proper costs and/or ordering prosecution in appropriate cases would go a long way in controlling the tendency of introducing false pleadings and forged and fabricated documents by the litigants. Imposition of heavy costs would also control unnecessary adjournments by the parties. In appropriate cases, the Courts may consider ordering prosecution otherwise it may not be possible to maintain purity and sanctity of judicial proceedings.
90. Experience has shown that all kinds of pleadings are introduced and even false and fabricated documents are filed in civil cases because there is an inherent profit in continuation of possession. In a large number of cases, honest litigants suffer and dishonest litigants get undue benefit by grant or refusal of an injunction because the Courts do not critically examine pleadings and documents on record.
In case while granting or refusing injunction, the Court properly considers pleadings and documents and takes the pragmatic view and grants appropriate mesne profit, then the inherent interest to continue frivolous litigation by unscrupulous litigants would be reduced to a large extent.
91. The Court while granting injunction should broadly take into consideration the prevailing market rentals in the locality for similar premises. Based on that, the Court should fix adhoc amount which the person continuing in possession must pay and on such payment, the plaintiff may withdraw after furnishing an undertaking and also making it clear that should the Court pass any order for reimbursement, it will be a charge upon the property.
95. The respondent has not been able to establish the family arrangement by which this house was given to the respondent for his residence. The Courts below have failed to appreciate that the premises in question was given by the appellant to her brother respondent herein as a caretaker.
The appellant was married to a Naval Officer who was transferred from time to time outside Goa. Therefore, on the request of her brother she gave possession of the premises to him as a caretaker. The caretaker holds the property of the principal only on behalf of the principal.
97. This Court in Puran Singh v. The State of Punjab (1975) 4 SCC 518 held that an occupation of the property by a person as an agent or a servant at the instance of the owner will not amount to actual physical possession.
"On the basis of the material available on record, it will be a misnomer to say that the plaintiff has been in 'possession' of the suit property. The plaintiff is neither a tenant, nor a licensee, nor a person even in unlawful possession of the suit property. Possession of servant is possession of the real owner. A servant cannot be said to be having any interest in the suit property. It cannot be said that a servant or a chowkidar can exercise such a possession or right to possession over the property as to exclude the master and the real owner of the property from his possession or exercising right to possession over the property.
(i) the person possessing, (ii) the things possessed and, (iii) the persons excluded from possession. A man may hold an object without claiming any interest therein for himself. A servant though holding an object, holds it for his master. He has, therefore, merely custody of the thing and not the possession which would always be with the master though the master may not be in actual contact of the thing. It is in this light in which the concept of possession has to be understood in the context of a servant and & master."
104. The legal representatives of the respondent are also directed to pay Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one Lakh) per month towards the use and occupation of the premises for a period of three months. The said amount for use and occupation be given to the appellant on or before the 10th of every month. In case the legal representatives of the respondent are not willing to pay the amount for use and occupation as directed by this Court, they must hand over the possession of the premises within two weeks from the date of this judgment. Thereafter, if the legal representatives of the respondent do not hand over peaceful possession of the suit property, in that event, the appellant would be at liberty to get the possession of the premises by taking police help.
105. As a result, the appeal of the appellant is allowed. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the respondents are directed to pay a cost of Rs.50,000/- to the appellant within four weeks. (We have imposed the moderate cost in view of the fact that the original respondent has expired). Ordered accordingly.

References: Application No.3
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