TMI Blog2003 (10) TMI 655X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icy decision of dealing with the applications received from the entrepreneurs through one window system. With a view to achieve the said objective a High Level Committee was constituted. BPL Limited (hereinafter referred to as 'the Company' with a view to set up industries applied for allotment of 500 acres of land for its three projects. The said application was considered by the High Level Committee wherein a decision was taken to allot 175 acres of land in favour of the Company at RS. 92/- per sq.m. The Company was held to be entitled to various other incentives for the aforementioned purposes. Such allotment was made by issuing an order dated 7.4.1995 out of the land acquired by it i.e. 296.26 acres in terms of notification dated 2/4th September, 1991 issued under Section 28(1) of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966. PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION: 3. The respondents filed a public interest litigation questioning the said allotment inter alia on the ground that the statutory purposes for which the Board can acquire the land had been breached by reason thereof. The respondent Nos. 1 to 3 describing themselves to be the social workers in the writ peti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a total investment of ₹ 663.56 crores. The Government of Karnataka decided to allot 220 acres of land at Dobospet Industrial Area. f) That an extent of 278.42 acres of private land near Dobospet was acquired by the State Government under Section 28(4) of KIADB Act, 1966 for the purpose of development by this Respondent. The final declaration is published in Karnataka Gazette dated 12.11.1992. A layout was planned in consultation with the Director, Town Planning to form 28 plots of varying extent from 1 acre to 210 acres. Plot No.1 and 2 measuring 30 acres and 210 acres are reserved in favour of BPL India Ltd. In the remaining 74 acres small plots are formed to accommodate non-polluting Industries. An extent of 28.80 acres will be occupied by roads, civic amenities etc. g) That this respondent while developing an industrial area undertakes development work like formation of WBM Roads, with block topping, drains with dick also culverts, stream water drains, drains supply through borewell, street lighting, avenue trees and drawing of high tension and low tension power line. The cost incurred has to be borne by allottees. However, the land that is allotted to BPL India Ltd. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .1996 which came into force with effect from 29.5.1995. The lease was for a period of 11 years and the yearly rent payable therefor was ₹ 55,479/- and maintenance charges at ₹ 74,568/-. It was stipulated that on expiry of the said period of 11 years the property would be sold to the lessee at the price fixed by the lessor. 9. Clause 11(b) of the said Agreement to Lease reads as follows: As soon as it may be convenient the LESSOR will fix the price of demised premises at which it will be sold to the LESSEE and communicate it to the LESSEE and the decision of the Lessor in this regard will be final and binding on the LESSEE. The LESSEE shall pay the balance of the value of the property, if any, after adjusting the premium and the total amount of rent paid by the LESSEE and earnest money deposit within one month from the date of receipt of communication signed by the LESSOR or any other officer authorised in this behalf by the LESSOR. On the other hand, if any sum is determined as payable by the LESSOR to the LESSEE after the adjustment as aforesaid, such sum shall be refunded to the LESSEE before the date of execution of the sale deed. 10. The appellants also ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssary or expedient for the purpose of carrying out the purposes of this Act, and the Board shall be bound to follow and act upon such directions. 41) Power to make Regulations: 1) The Board may, with the previous approval of the State Government, by notification make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules made hereunder to carry out the purposes of this Act. 2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for:- a) ... b) the terms and conditions under which the Board any dispose of land. 13. Pursuant to and in furtherance of the power conferred upon the State, regulations were framed known as 'Regulations governing the disposal of land by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board'. Regulations 7 and 13 of the said Regulations which are relevant for the purpose of this case are as under: 7. Inviting applications: The Board shall notify the availability of land, the manner of disposal, the last date for submission of applications and such other particulars as the Board may consider necessary in each case by giving wide publicity through newspapers having cir ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pplication of mind in relation thereto. The property having been acquired under a statute is a public property, contends Mr. Iyer, and being trustees thereof, the Board was required to take extreme care and caution in relation thereto. It was contended that the High Court had rightly found that for all intent and purport such vast tract of land had been sold to the Company although apparently allotted for a period of 11 years and thereafter the Company would be entitled to obtain sale deed in relation to the demised Land. At the relevant time, Mr. Iyer argued, neither any project report had been submitted by the Company nor any material was placed to show that the Company required such vast tract of land. SCOPE OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION 17. The Company intended to set up more than one unit. For the purpose of achieving the objective of economic development of the State, the State is entitled to deal with the applications of the entrepreneurs in an appropriate manner. For the said purpose a High Level Committee was constituted. The said Committee held its meeting on 10.10.1994 wherein not only the members referred to hereinbefore but also various other officers were ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions under the statutes, the purpose for which consultation was to be made would stand satisfied. Under the Act or the Regulations framed thereunder, no procedure for holding such consultations had been laid down. In that situation it was open to the competent authorities to evolve their own procedure. Such a procedure of taking a decision upon deliberations does not fall foul of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. No malice of fact has been alleged in the instant case. The High Court has proceeded to pronounce its judgment inter alia on the ground that the price of the land should have been fixed at ₹ 8,00,000/- per acre. In the support of the said decision, the High Court has relied upon a grant at the aforementioned rate. However, it was pointed out by the Board: It is submitted that the land allotted to respondent No.4 was not fully developed by this petitioner except some infrastructural facilities which have been counted while calculating the price of the land. The land allotted to individual entrepreneurs is fully developed with all infrastructural facilities. There cannot be any equality between unequals. The cost of the land is arrived at by this petitioner ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... above are: 1) The modern trend points to judicial restraint in administrative action. 2) The court does not sit as a court of appeal but merely reviews the manner in which the decision was made. 3) The court does not have the expertise to correct the administrative decision. If a review of the administrative decision is permitted it will be substituting its own decision, without the necessary expertise which itself may be fallible. 4) The terms of the invitation to tender cannot be open to judicial scrutiny because the invitation to tender is in the realm of contract. Normally speaking, the decision to accept the tender or award the contract is reached by process of negotiations through several tiers. More often than not, such decisions are made qualitatively by experts. 5) The Government must have freedom of contract. In other words, a fair play in the joints is a necessary concomitant for an administrative body functioning in an administrative sphere or quasi-administrative sphere. However, the decision must not only be tested by the application of Wednesbury principle of reasonableness (including its other facts pointed out above) but must be free from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pply of sal seeds at concessional rate has been taken by the Government. The rate of royalty has also been fixed on some accepted principle of pricing formula as will be indicated hereafter. Hence, distribution or allotment of sal seeds at the determined royalty to the respondents and other units covered by the agreements cannot be assailed. It is to be appreciated that in this case, distribution by public auction or by open tender may not achieve the purpose of the policy of protective measure by way of supply of sal seeds at concessional rate of royalty to the industrial units covered by the agreements on being selected on valid and objective considerations. 26. In Netai Bag and others vs. State of W.B. and others 2000 (8) SCC 262 ), Sethi J. speaking for the Bench observed: Though the State cannot escape its liability to show its actions to be fair, reasonable and in accordance with law, yet wherever challenge is thrown to any of such action, initial burden of showing the prima facie existence of violation of the mandate of the Constitution lies upon the person approaching the court. We have found in this case, that the appellants have miserably failed to place on reco ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pondent 5 upon consideration of all the facts and circumstances with the object of setting up an industry in the State of West Bengal which was likely to generate employment to more than 300 persons and earn foreign exchange worth more than ₹ 50 acrores. The negotiations were resorted to ensure the disposal of the slaughterhouse at Durgapur which was proved to have been running in losses. The respondent State had failed to get any buyer for Durgapur Project despite newspaper advertisement. In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case we are not persuaded to hold that the action of the respondent State in executing the lease deed with Respondent 5 was unreasonable, illegal, arbitrary or actuated by extraneous considerations. In this regard it is worth noticing that none except the erstwhile owners and the propounders of vegetarianism have made any grievance to the effect that the market value of the property, as charged from Respondent 5, was either allegedly for a song or at a throwaway price. 27. In Raunaq International Ltd. vs. I.V.R. Construction Ltd. and others 1999 (1) SCC 492 ) it was held: 11) When a writ petition is filed in the High Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pment. If the project is for the construction of a road or an irrigation canal, the delay in transportation facility becoming available or the delay in water supply for agriculture being available, can be a substantial setback to the country's economic development. Where the decision has been taken bona fide and a choice has been exercised on legitimate considerations and not arbitrarily, there is no reason why the court should entertain a petition under Article 226. 13) Hence before entertaining a writ petition and passing any interim orders in such petitions, the court must carefully weigh conflicting public interests. Only when it comes to a conclusion that there is an overwhelming public interest in entertaining the petition, the court should intervene. 14) Where there is an allegation of mala fides or an allegation that the contract has been entered into for collateral purposes and the court is satisfied on the material before it that the allegation needs further examination, the court would be entitled to entertain the petition. But even here, the court must weigh the consequences in balance before granting interim orders. 28. In Narmada Bachao Andolan vs. Union ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the people and the weaker sections of the society and in areas where there was violation of human rights under Article 21, but with the passage of time, petitions have been entertained in other spheres. Prof. S.B. Sathe has summarised the extent of the jurisdiction which has now been exercised in the following words: PIL may, therefore, be described as satisfying one or more of the following parameters. These are not exclusive but merely descriptive. - Where the concerns underlying a petition are not individualist but are shared widely by a large number of people (bonded labour, undertrial prisoners, prison inmates). - Where the affected persons belong to the disadvantaged sections of society (women, children , bonded labour, unorganised labour etc.). - Where judicial law making is necessary to avoid exploitation (inter- country adoption, the education of the children of the prostitutes). - Where judicial intervention is necessary for the protection of the sanctity of democratic institutions (independence of the judiciary, existence of grievances redressal forums). - Where administrative decisions related to development are harmful to the environment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ithout cogent and sufficient reason allowed Administrator to continue in office although his term was over and he was posted elsewhere. He also could not have been conferred powers wider than Section 17 of the Act. The High Court took over the power of appointment of the Commissioner bypassing the procedure set out in the Act by calling upon the Government to furnish the names of 5 IAS Officers to the Court so that it could exercise the power of appointment of the Commissioner. The Court should be circumspect in entertaining such public interest litigation for another reason. There may be dispute amongst the devotees as to what practices should be followed by the temple authorities. There may be dispute as regard the rites and rituals to be performed in the temple or omission thereof. Any decision in favour of one sector of the people may heart the sentiments of the other. The Courts normally, thus, at the first instance would not enter into such disputed arena, particularly when by reason thereof the fundamental right of a group of devotees under Articles 25 and 26 may be infringed. Like any other wing of the State, the Courts also while passing an order should ensure that th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rder has been passed without complying with the principles of natural justice. (See Whirlpool Corporation vs. Registrar of Trade Marks, Mumbai and others (1998) 8 SCC 1). Exercise of self-restraint, thus, should be adhered to, subject of course to, just exceptions. 32. Dawn Oliver in Constitutional Reform in the UK under the heading 'the Courts and Theories of Democracy, Citizenship, and Good Governance' at page 105 states: However, this concept of democracy as rights-based with limited governmental power, and in particular of the role of the Courts in a democracy, carries high risk for the judges- and for the public. Courts may interfere inadvisedly in public administration. The case of Bromley London Borough Council vs. Greater London Council (1983) 1 AC 768, HL) is a classic example. The House of Lords quashed the GLC cheap fares policy as being based on a misreading of the statutory provisions, but were accused of themselves misunderstanding transport policy in so doing. The courts are not experts in policy and public administration - hence Jowell's point that the courts should not step beyond their institutional capacity (Jowell, 2000). Acceptance of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s held to be malafide. What is necessary in such matters is not the time taken for allotment but the manner in which the action had been taken. The court, it is trite, is not concerned with the merit of the decision but the decision making process. In absence of any finding that any legal malice was committed, the impugned allotment of land could not have been interfered with. What was only necessary to be seen was as to whether there had been a fair play in action. 37. The question as to whether any undue haste has been shown in taking an administrative decision is essentially a question of fact. The state had devolved a policy of Single Window System with a view to get rid of red- tapism generally prevailing in the bureaucracy. A decision which has been taken after due deliberations and upon due application of mind cannot be held to be suffering from malice in law on the ground that there had been undue haste on the part of the State and the Board. (See Bangalore Medical Trust vs. B.S. Muddappa and others 1991 (4) SCC 54 and Pfizer Ltd. vs. Mazdoor Congress and others 1996 (5) SCC 609 ). 38. For the aforementioned reasons, we are of the opinion that the impugned judgment ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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