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TMI Blog2012 (7) TMI 923X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2009, 6574/2009, 6585/2009, 6578/2009, 6579/2009, 6854/2009, 6666-6667/2009, 6757/2009, 6747-6755/2009, 6831/2009, 6756/2009, 6591/2009, 6651/2009, 6606/2009, 6592/2009, 6658/2009, 6594/2009, 6595/2009, 6650/2009, 6657/2009, 6655/2009, 6596/2009, 6597/2009, 6620/2009, 6621/2009, 6602/2009, 6603/2009, 6622/2009, 6598/2009, 6624/2009, 6647/2009, 6654/2009, 6599/2009, 6607/2009, 6608/2009, 6623/2009, 6609/2009, 6600/2009, 6601/2009, 6649/2009, 6593/2009, 6605/2009, 6610/2009, 6611/2009, 6612/2009, 6653/2009, 6613/2009, 6642/2009, 6652/2009, 6643/2009, 6614/2009, 6659/2009, 6645/2009, 6648/2009, 6656/2009, 6646/2009, 6626/2009, 6615/2009, 6616/2009, 6644/2009, 6625/2009, 6639/2009, 6636/2009, 6637/2009, 6627/2009, 6631/2009, 6628/2009, 6638/2009, 6641/2009, 6629/2009, 6630/2009, 6619/2009, 6635/2009, 6640/2009, 6632/2009, 6633/2009, 6824- 6827/2009, 6664-6665/2009, 7724/2009, 7725/2009, 7723/2009, 6871-6875/2010, 6876- 6878/2010, 53/2010, 1370/2010, 2475/2010, 4212/2010, 4213/2010, 4214/2010, 4215/2010, 4218/2010, 4220/2010, 4221/2010, 4222/2010, 4224/2010, 4225/2010, 4226/2010, 4227/2010, 4228/2010, 4223/2010, 4229/2010, 4230/2010, 4231/2010, 4232/2010, 4233/2010, 4234/2010, 6879/2010 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d on 10.11.1995. By an award dated 3.4.1997, the Land Acquisition Collector fixed market value at the rate of Rs. 4,13,600/- per acre. The Reference Court divided the land into two Blocks. For the land comprised in Block 'A', the Reference Court determined the amount of compensation at the rate of Rs. 6,89,333/- per acre. The remaining land was included in Block 'B' and no enhancement was granted in the compensation determined by the Land Acquisition Collector. 2.3. Before proceeding further, we may mention that in support of their claim for award of higher compensation, the land owners had produced 13 sale deeds which were marked Exhibits P1 to P13. Of these, Exhibit P1 dated 16.9.1994 was in respect of 12 acres land situated in village Naharpur Kasan, which was sold by M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. to M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. and was proved by Shri Albel Singh, authorised signatory of M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. The land owners also produced copy of Massavi Chakbandi of Village Khoh (Exhibit P14) and Aks-shajras of the four villages (Exhibits P15 to P18). On behalf of the State Government, Shri Arun Kumar Pandey, Manager, HSIDC was examined as RW-1 and sale deeds ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... more than two years after the date of notification under section 4 of the Act. Similarly the sale instances Ex.Pl0, P11 and PI2 pertain to the sale of land in village Noorangpur. The said sale instances are, thus, not relevant. On the other hand, the sale instances relied upon by the State are Ex.Rl to Ex. R15 but they have rightly been rejected by the reference court itself on the ground that the said sale instance reflected an average price which is even less than the one assessed by the Collector and, as such, in view of the provisions of section 25 of the Act, the same were not relevant and worth consideration. As noticed above, the land which was acquired in the present proceedings is approximately 1500 acres. The sale instance Ex.Pl in my considered view, reflects as near as possible, the market value of the acquired land on the date of notification under section 4 of the Act. The said sale had taken place on September 16,1994. The recitals in the sale deed reflect that there was a prior agreement between the two companies on May 31, 1994 with regard to the sale of the land. It is also recited in the sale deed that the entire sale consideration was paid by the purchaser-com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing extracts of the judgment under review: "Shri Amarendera Sharan, learned Senior Counsel and Shri Ravindra Bana, learned counsel appearing for the Corporation argued that the High Court committed serious error by fixing market value of the acquired land at Rs. 15 lakhs per acre in one batch of appeals and Rs. 12 lakhs in the other batch of appeals by relying upon the sale deed, Ext. P-1 excluding other sale transactions, which were produced before the Reference Court. The learned counsel submitted that the value of 12 acres of land which was sold by Ext. P-1 was wholly disproportionate to the prevailing market value and, therefore, the same could not be made basis for fixing market value of the acquired land measuring more than 1490 acres. Shri Amarendera Sharan emphasised that actual market value of the acquired land was not more than Rs. 7 lakhs and the High Court committed serious error by discarding other sale transactions through which similar parcels of land were sold for Rs. 7 lakhs or less. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that if the High Court had given due weightage to other sale transactions, market value of the acquired land could not have been fixed at Rs. 15 l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dated 13.1.2011, paragraphs 4 to 8 of which are extracted below: "4. In the review petitions, it has been averred that the sale transaction dated 16.9.1994, upon which reliance was placed by the learned Single Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and by this Court for grant of enhanced compensation was motivated because parties to the transaction were under the control and management of the common board of directors and this fact came to the notice of the review petitioner only after dismissal of the appeals by this Court. 5. In paragraph 'A' of the grounds of the review petitions, the review petitioner has referred to the composition of M/s. Dura Cell India Private Limited and Heritage Furniture Private Limited to show that both the companies have common management. 6. The review petition is supported by an affidavit of Shri Hamvir Singh, Deputy General Manager (I.A.), Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. In paragraph 2 of his affidavit, the deponent has stated that contents of the review petition (pages 25 to 43), list of dates (pages B to P) and other applications are true to my knowledge and the information derived from reco ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n. In paragraph A of the review petition, the petitioner has set out the brief history of the two companies and pleaded that at the time of the execution of sale deed both the entities were under the control of the same set of persons. It has also been averred that the facts relating to composition of the Board of Directors of two companies could not be ascertained by exercising due diligence and the true nature of Exhibit P1 was revealed only after the judgment of this Court. According to the petitioner, M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. had purchased different parcels of land from the farmers by executing 10 different sale deeds executed on 16th and 18th August, 1993 at an average price of Rs. 6 lakhs per acre and, as such, there was no occasion for M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. to have purchased the same land just after one year at the rate of Rs. 20,03,103/- per acre. It is the petitioner's case that exorbitant price is shown to have been paid by the vendee to the vendor because its Indian promoters were to be benefited by the proposed joint venture between the Indian company and M/s. Duracell Inc. USA. Another ground taken by the petitioner is that sale deeds Exhibits P-2, P-3 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Albel Singh substantiating the statements of the petitioners. 5. Some of the landowners have filed reply affidavits. Their stand is that Exhibit P1 reflected true market value of the acquired land as on the date of issue of notifications under Section 4(1) and that the petitioner's assertion that the transaction was not genuine is not correct. They have denied that the vendor and vendees were under the control of the same management and that exorbitantly high price was paid for 12 acres land in anticipation of some collaboration between M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. Duracell Inc. USA, which would have benefited the former. With a view to avoid repetition, we may notice the averments contained in paragraphs 4 to 9 of the reply affidavit filed in Review Petition No.239/2011 and paragraph 5 of the reply affidavit filed on behalf of the landowners who were respondents in Civil Appeal No.6561/2009. The same read as under: Paragraphs 4 to 9 of the reply affidavit filed in Review Petition No.239/2011 "4. I state that vide 5 sale deeds all dt. 6.7.1992 land measuring 49 kanals 2 marlas situated in Village Kherka Daula, District Gurgaon was sold by some of the co-owners to one S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ge Furniture Pvt. (vendor) and M/s Duracell (India) Pvt. Ltd. (vendee) had common persons in their Board of Directors namely Sh. Saroj Kumar Poddar, Ms. Jyotsana Poddar and Sh. Gurvinder Singh Gill. The review petitioner has filed search reports of both the said companies to show that the abavoe said three persons were common directors of both the companies. However, from the said search report of M/s. Duracell (India) Pvt. Ltd. it is clear the two directors namely Sh. Saroj Kumar Poddar and Ms. Jyotsana Poddar were appointed as Directors of this company on 9.6.1994 whereas Sh. Gurvinder Singh gill was appointed as its Director on 9.2.1997. Thus all the three alleged common Directors of the vendor and vendee companies were not on the Board of Directors of M/s Duracell (India) Pvt. Ltd. on or before 31.5.1994 on which date the agreement to sell of the land in question was executed and the sale price was fixed. The said three directors had no interest in M/s. Duracell (India) Pvt. Ltd. (vendee) as on 31.5.1994 when the sale price of the land was fixed. 8. I further state that except for making a bald allegation that the sale price of the said land was inflated intentionally so that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s sale deed also proves that the market price of the acquired land in the year 1994 was Rs. 20 lakhs per acre. Copy of sale deed dt.17.7.1996 is Annexure R-4 is hereto. It may be mentioned here that the same purchaser purchased different pieces of land at the same rate vide 15 different sale deeds and the total land purchased was 18 kanals 5 marlas i.e. more than 2.25 acres." Paragraph 5 of the reply affidavit filed on behalf of the landowners who were respondents in Civil Appeal No.6561/2009. "5. That the present review petition is being filed only on the ground that Ex. P-1, which has been relied upon by the Hon'ble High Court as well as upheld by this Hon'ble Court was entered by the corporate which were under the control and management of common board of directors and hence it is not the correct market value. In reply thereto the respondents humbly submits that:- a) This fact for the first time is brought into the notice at the level of this Hon'ble Court, therefore review petition are estopped by their own conduct. b) That merely the both the corporate have common board of directors does not prove that the sale in between the corporate was an escalated rates, rather it shou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... point out the following are the sale transactions in December 2006 of the village Naharpur/Kasan. Land sold of Village Naharpur/Kasan Sr. No. Vasika No. Dt . Land sold Sale consideration er acre 1. 18628 4.12.06 12K 16.5M 2,56,50,000/- 1,60,00000 2. 8742 5.12.06 5K 13M 1,13,00,000/- 1,60,00000 3. 18743 5.12.06 5K 14M 74,00,000/- 1,60,00000 4. 19350 14.12.06 5K 13M 1,13,00,000/- 1,60,00000 f) it is also submitted that the rate on which auction sale of Tower side on acquired land is done on 30.6.2006. Tower Site No. Area in meters Amount of consideration per sq yard J 6804 95.10 crores 116865/- per sq. yd K 5832 101.50 crores 145518/- per sq. yd L 6804 93.00 crores 114284.50/- per sq. yd g) It is also submit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Directors, namely, Shri Saroj Kumar Poddar and Ms. Jyotsana Poddar were common to the management of the two companies and submitted that land was shown to have been purchased by M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. at a very high price because it was hoping to reap benefit of the joint venture agreement with M/s. Duracell Inc. USA. Learned counsel pointed out that the vendor, namely, M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. had purchased 12 acres land from different landowners at an average price of Rs. 6 lakhs per acre and argued that even if the benefit of 12% notional increase in the value of land was allowed to the vendor, no person of ordinary prudence would have purchased the same land after a period of 13 months at the rate of more than Rs. 20 lakhs per acre. Learned counsel also referred to the statement of the authorised signatory of the vendor M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. to drive home the point that the Sale Deed Exhibit P1 was not a bona fide transaction. Learned senior counsel then argued that dismissal of Review Petition Nos.2107-2108 of 2010 cannot operate as a bar to the maintainability of these petitions because till 13.1.2011, the officers of the petitioner did not have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . The Court declined to entertain this plea by observing that the petitioner had not produced any material to substantiate its assertion. Along with the present batch of review petitions, the petitioner has placed on record the search reports prepared by M/s AKG and Company, Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association of M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd., mutations showing the purchase of land by M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. vide sale deeds dated 16.8.1993 and 18.8.1993, annual return of M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. showing Shri Saroj Kumar Poddar, Shri Gurbunder Singh Gill and Ms. Jyotsana Poddar as the Directors and the statement of Albel Singh, but these documents neither singularly nor collectively support the petitioner's plea that management of the two companies, i.e., the vendor and the vendee, was under the control of the same set of persons or that the vendee had paid unusually high price with some oblique motive. As a matter of fact, Shri Saroj Kumar Poddar and Ms. Jyotsana Poddar were appointed as Directors of M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. on 9.6.1994 and Shri Gurbunder Singh Gill was so appointed on 9.2.1997 whereas the agre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... act that the decision on a question of law on which the judgment of the Court is based has been reversed or modified by the subsequent decision of a superior Court in any other case, shall not be a ground for the review of such judgment." 10. The aforesaid provisions have been interpreted in several cases. We shall notice some of them. In S. Nagaraj v. State of Karnataka 1993 Supp (4) SCC 595, this Court referred to the judgments in Raja Prithwi Chand Lal Choudhury v. Sukhraj Rai AIR 1941 FC 1 and Rajunder Narain Rae v. Bijai Govind Singh (1836) 1 Moo PC 117 and observed: "Review literally and even judicially means re-examination or re- consideration. Basic philosophy inherent in it is the universal acceptance of human fallibility. Yet in the realm of law the courts and even the statutes lean strongly in favour of finality of decision legally and properly made. Exceptions both statutorily and judicially have been carved out to correct accidental mistakes or miscarriage of justice. Even when there was no statutory provision and no rules were framed by the highest court indicating the circumstances in which it could rectify its order the courts culled out such power to avoid abuse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Code. The expression, 'for any other sufficient reason' in the clause has been given an expanded meaning and a decree or order passed under misapprehension of true state of circumstances has been held to be sufficient ground to exercise the power. Apart from Order XL Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules this Court has the inherent power to make such orders as may be necessary in the interest of justice or to prevent the abuse of process of Court. The Court is thus not precluded from recalling or reviewing its own order if it is satisfied that it is necessary to do so for sake of justice." 11. In Moran Mar Basselios Catholicos v. Most Rev. Mar Poulose Athanasius AIR 1954 SC 526, the three-Judge Bench referred to the provisions of the Travancore Code of Civil Procedure, which was similar to Order 47 Rule 1 CPC and observed: "It is needless to emphasise that the scope of an application for review is much more restricted than that of an appeal. Under the provisions in the Travancore Code of Civil Procedure which is similar in terms to Order 47 Rule 1 of our Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the court of review has only a limited jurisdiction cir ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erson seeking the review or could not be produced by him at the time when the order was made; it may be exercised where some mistake or error apparent on the face of the record is found; it may also be exercised on any analogous ground. But, it may not be exercised on the ground that the decision was erroneous on merits. That would be the province of a court of appeal. A power of review is not to be confused with appellate powers which may enable an appellate court to correct all manner of errors committed by the subordinate court." 14. In Meera Bhanja v. Nirmala Kumari Choudhury (1995) 1 SCC 170, the Court considered as to what can be characterised as an error apparent on the fact of the record and observed: ".......it has to be kept in view that an error apparent on the face of record must be such an error which must strike one on mere looking at the record and would not require any long-drawn process of reasoning on points where there may conceivably be two opinions. We may usefully refer to the observations of this Court in the case of Satyanarayan Laxminarayan Hegde v. Mallikarjun Bhavanappa Tirumale AIR 1960 SC 137 wherein, K.C. Das Gupta, J., speaking for the Court has mad ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... /or cited binding precedents to the court and thereby enjoyed a favourable verdict." 18. In State of West Bengal v. Kamal Sengupta (2008) 8 SCC 612, the Court considered the question whether a Tribunal established under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 can review its decision, referred to Section 22(3) of that Act, some of the judicial precedents and observed: "At this stage it is apposite to observe that where a review is sought on the ground of discovery of new matter or evidence, such matter or evidence must be relevant and must be of such a character that if the same had been produced, it might have altered the judgment. In other words, mere discovery of new or important matter or evidence is not sufficient ground for review ex debito justitiae. Not only this, the party seeking review has also to show that such additional matter or evidence was not within its knowledge and even after the exercise of due diligence, the same could not be produced before the court earlier. The term "mistake or error apparent" by its very connotation signifies an error which is evident per se from the record of the case and does not require detailed examination, scrutiny and elucidation ei ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent on the face of the record warranting its review. Surely, in guise of seeking review, the petitioner cannot ask for de novo hearing of the appeals. 20. The petitioner's plea that the documents produced along with the review petitions could not be brought to the notice of the Reference Court and the High Court despite exercise of due diligence by its officers does not commend acceptance because it had not explained as to why the concerned officers/officials, who were very much aware of other sale transactions produced by themselves and the landowners did not try to find out the reasons for wide difference in the price of land sold by Exhibit P1 and other parcels of land sold by Exhibits P2 to P13 and Exhibits R1 to R15. 21. Before concluding, we would like to add that while deciding the review petitions, this Court cannot make roving inquiries into the validity of the transaction involving the sale of land by M/s. Heritage Furniture Pvt. Ltd. to M/s. Duracell India Pvt. Ltd. or declare the same to be invalid by assuming that the vendee had paid higher price to take benefit of an anticipated joint venture agreement with a foreign company. Of course, the petitioner has not contro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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