TMI Blog2016 (11) TMI 1546X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2-9-2015, there is a delay of 55 days in filing the appeal - Given the reason of ill health cited by the appellant in the affidavit filed to support the application and the attendant circumstances, it is a fit case for exercising our discretion to condone the delay, which is within the permissible limit of sixty days. Appeal disposed off. - C.M. Appln. No. 341 of 2016 - - - Dated:- 3-11-2016 - P.N. Ravindran and Dama Seshadri Naidu, JJ. Shri M. Ramesh Chander (Sr.), Aneesh Joseph, Dennis Varghese, for the Appellant. Smt. C.G. Preetha, Central Govt. Standing Counsel, for the Respondent. ORDER [Order per : Dama Seshadri Naidu, J.]. - Introduction : An order of the Appellate Tribunal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (the Act) is challenged in this appeal, Procedurally an appeal to this Court lies in sixty days under Section 42 of the Act; the period is extendable by sixty more days - 120 days in total. The Act casts a burden on the Appellate Tribunal to communicate the order either to the appellant or her authorized agent depending on the method of service. 2. Here the order was served on the appellant s counsel. There arose some delay i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... condone the delay beyond the maximum permissible period : 120 days. So, the moot question is whether the Appellate Tribunal has served its order on the appellant on time. It is an admitted fact on either side that a copy of the order was served through speed post on the appellant s counsel appearing before the Appellate Tribunal, then. The record reveals that a copy of the order was enclosed to a covering letter dated 7-8-2015 [Annexure R1(a)]. 7. If we assume that it was dispatched on the same day, it could have, probably, reached the appellant s counsel in fifteen days. For, according to the respondent, it was not returned undelivered. So the respondent legitimately tries to draw a presumption under Section 27 of the General Clauses Act that the copy of the order was duly served on the counsel within time. The question, then, is whether service of notice or order on the counsel amounts to its proper service on the party to the proceedings. Submissions Appellant s 8. Sri. Ramesh Chander, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant, has strenuously contended that neither the substantive provisions of the statute nor the rules made thereunder have cont ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t, and Smt. C.G. Preetha, the learned Central Government Standing Counsel. Issues I. Does the service of, say, an order, on the counsel amount to its proper service on the party to the proceedings? II. Is Rule 5 ultra vires of the Parent Statute? Discussion Issue No. 1. 14. To begin with, to the credit of learned counsel on either side, we may acknowledge that they have referred to various analogous and, in some cases, in pari materia provisions governing the service of notices either on the parties or on their authorised agents. A case in point is Section 31(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The expression employed is delivered . On the other hand, Section 26(5) of the Act here employs send . In Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the expression is by giving a notice in writing . In Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Section 14 deals with service of notice. That provision employs the expression served . 15. We may, in this context, refer to Section 39 of the Act here. It permits a party to the proceedings either to appear in person or to take the assistance of any authorised representative of his cho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... carried on business or personally works or has worked for gain and that written report thereof should be witnessed by two persons; or (d) if the notice or requisition or order cannot be served under clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c), then by publishing in a leading newspaper (both in vernacular and in English) having wide circulation in the area or jurisdiction to which the person resides or is known to have last resided or carried on business or personally works or last worked for gain. 19. A notice or an order needs to be served in the manner provided. Here the procedure is in the alternative. First, under sub-rule (a) a notice or an order can be delivered or tendered on the person or the person duly authorised by the party to the proceedings. Under sub-rule (b), the notice or the order can be sent by registered post with acknowledgment due; it must be addressed to the party to the proceedings at her place of residence or her last known place of residence or the place where she carries on business. 20. If either of the above eventualities fail, the service can be by way of affixture and, thereafter, if necessary, by publication. In both these instances, the af ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on is favoured. 27. It is elementary that we need to give effect to every word and phrase employed in a statute or rule, for cardinal is the cannon of construction that there can be no presumption about legislative surplusage. If possible, every word and every provision is to be given effect. None should be ignored. None should needlessly be given an Interpretation that causes it to duplicate another provision or to have no consequence United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1, 65 (1936). 28. A mere perusal of sub-rule (5) compels us to conclude that sub-rules (a) and (b) operate in the alternative. Once the appellate forum has chosen the procedure under sub-rule (b), it cannot be heard saying that it is only an expansion of the procedure under sub-rule (a). Therefore, we are inclined to hold that sub-rule (b) is mandatory in its scope and ambit; necessarily, the communication should be addressed to the party and the party alone. Any alternative service through post on the so-called authorised agent does not amount to proper service. 29. There is yet another reason for us to come to this conclusion : Once an infraction of a provision - even procedural - leads to adverse or pena ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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