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TMI Blog2003 (6) TMI 205X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... spective effect i.e. for the entire period during which the Outline Development Plan remained in force i.e. from 1972 to 1984. It is settled law that where a law is retrospectively amended, the consequences of such retrospective amendment are that all actions have to proceed on the premise that the law, as amended, was always the law in force. In that view of the matter there was neither any need for the legislature to modify the maximum height of a new building in the manner provided in the Planning Act nor to amend the provisions of the Planning Act providing for method of framing Zonal Regulations. For the aforesaid reasons we are of the view that the impugned Act is constitutionally valid and the view taken by the High Court in striking down the Act was erroneous. Appeal allowed. - 8951 of 1997 - - - Dated:- 6-5-2003 - CJI Ashok Bhan, JJ. JUDGMENT: KHARE, CJI. The question that arises in these appeals is, whether the Bangalore City Planning Area Zonal Regulations (Amendment Validation) Act, 1996 (Karnataka Act No.2 of 1996) [hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'], is constitutionally valid? Civil Appeal No. 831/98 has been filed at the in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rs gave undertakings before the High Court in terms of the order of the apex Court. Similarly, every purchaser and occupier of the flats in the aforesaid building also gave individual undertakings before the Court. Subsequently, the writ petition filed by the respondent came up for hearing before a Division Bench of the High Court. The High Court by means of the order and judgment dated 11th of June, 1982 allowed the writ petition. The builders thereafter filed appeals before the apex Court, but their appeals were dismissed on 19.1.1987. After dismissal of the civil appeals by this Court, some of the occupants of the premises filed writ petitions challenging the action of the Commissioner in implementing the writ issued by the High Court. However, the said writ petitions were disposed of by an order and judgment dated 29.10.1987. In terms of the directions given by the High Court and after giving opportunity of hearing to all the occupiers of the building, the Commissioner passed an order that 3 floors (6th, 7th and the 8th floors) of the building constructed by the builders be demolished. Thereafter, different proceedings were taken, which are not relevant for the purpose of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rporation and the impugned Act. The Planning Act provides for regulation by way of planned growth of land use and development and execution of Town Planning Scheme in the State of Karnataka. Section 4-A of the Planning Act empowers the State Government to declare any area in the State to be a Local Planning Area for purposes of the Act. Section 4-C of the Planning Act provides for constitution of Planning Authority for the purpose of performing the functions assigned to it. Chapter III relates to Outline Development Plan authorising every Planning Authority to carry out a survey of the area and prepare and publish an Outline Development Plan and submit the same to the Government for provisional approval. An Outline Development Plan is to indicate the manner in which the development and improvement of the entire planning area within the jurisdiction of the Planning Authority is required to be carried out and regulated. Under Section 13 of the Planning Act the State Government has authority to approve the Outline Development Plan in the manner and the procedure prescribed therein. Section 14 provides that on and from the date of declaration no change in the land use or development ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nal Regulations as modified by this Act if any person after obtaining permission from the Corporation of the City of Bangalore during the period from 22nd May 1972 to 12th October, 1984 has constructed any building deviating from the said Zonal Regulations as modified by this Act or the permission granted by the Corporation of the City of Bangalore such person may within thirty days from the date of commencement of this Act, apply to the State Government for regularisation of such construction in accordance with the provisions of this Section. (2) There shall be a committee for the purpose of regularisation of constructions referred to in sub-section (1) consisting of the following members, namely:- (i) The Secretary to Government, Urban Development Department Chairman (ii) The Commissioner, Corporation of the City of Bangalore Member (iii) The Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority Member (iv) The Director of Town Planning Member Secretary (3) The Committee shall scrutinise the applications received under sub-section (1) and after holding such enquiry as it deems fit if it is satisfied that the deviation referred to in sub-section (1) does not cons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ons shows that with effect from 1972 to 1984 under the Zonal Regulations the maximum height permissible for any new building was upto 55 fts. However, Rule 16 of Bye-law 38 provided height of the erection or re-erection of any new building up to 80 fts. It is also not disputed that the said Zonal Regulations ceased to have effect after the Comprehensive Development Plan came into force in the year 1985 and after passing of the impugned Act, the height of the new building could be raised to above 50 meters, i.e., 165 fts. In the light of the aforesaid provisions, the validity of the impugned Act has to be looked into. The validity of any Statute may be assailed on the ground that it is ultra vires the legislative competence of the Legislature which enacted it or it is violative of Part III or any other provision of the Constitution. It is well settled that the Parliament and State Legislatures have plenary powers of legislation within the fields assigned to them and subject to some constitutional limitations, can legislate prospectively as well as retrospectively. This power to make retrospective legislation enables the legislature to validate prior executive and legislative ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 975 (Supp.) SCR 394, this Court obsereved : We see no substance in the respondent's contention that by redefining the term `house' with retrospective effect and by validating the levies imposed under the unamended Act as if, notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment decree or order of any court, that Act as amended was in force on the date when the tax was levied, the Legislature has encroached upon a judicial function. The power of the Legislature to pass a law postulates the power to pass if prospectively as well as retrospectively, the one no less than the other. Within the scope of its legislative competence and subject to other constitutional limitations, the power of the Legislature to enact laws is plenary.. The State legislature, it is significant, has not overruled or set aside the judgment of the High Court. It has amended the definition of `house' by the substitution of a new section 2(15) for the old section and it has provided that the new definition shall have retrospective effect, notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or other authority. In other words, it has removed the basis of the decision ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d to have been in existence from a particular date in the past and thus to validate the actions taken in the past as if the provisions concerned were in existence from the earlier date, the Legislature makes the said intention clear by the specific language of the validating Act. It is open for the Legislature to change the very basis of the provisions retrospectively and to validate the actions on the changed basis. This is exactly what has been done in the present case as is apparent from the provisions of clauses (3) and (5) of the Amending Ordinance corresponding to Sections 2 and 4 of the Amending Act No. 2 of 1981. We have already referred to the effect of Sections 2 and 4 of the Amending Act. The effect of the two provisions, therefore, is not only to validate with retrospective effect the rules already made but also to amend the provisions of Section 214 itself to read as if the power to make rules with retrospective effect were always available under Section 214 since the said section stood amended to give such power from the time the retroactive rules were made. The Legislature had thus taken care to amend the provisions of the Act itself both to give the Government the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ursuant to the assessment order will remain intact and in force, but it will not be open to the Department to realise the amount of tax merely because of the order passed in the contempt proceeding. The writ court's order had to be carried out, which is why the refund order was passed in the contempt proceeding. This direction to refund the amount of tax already collected was given only because the assessment orders had been set aside by the writ court. But, when the assessment orders were validated by passing the Amendment Act of 1969 with retrospective effect, the tax demand became valid and enforceable. The tax demand is a debt owed by an assessee which can be realised by the State in accordance with law. Merely because the amount of tax which had been realised earlier was directed to be refunded by court's order on the finding that the assessment order was invalid, will not preclude the State from realising the tax due subsequently when the assessment order was validated by the Amending Act of 1969. The order passed in the contempt proceeding will not have the effect of writing off the debt which is statutorily owed by the assessee to the State. The State has filed a su ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to do is first to remove the very basis of invalidity and then validate the executive action. In order to validate an executive action or any provision of a statute, it is not sufficient for the legislature to declare that a judicial pronouncement given by a Court of law would not be binding, as the legislature does not possess that power. A decision of a Court of law has a binding effect unless the very basis upon which it is given is so altered that the said decision would not have been given in the changed circumstances. Here, the question before us is, whether the impugned Act has passed the test of constitutionality by serving to remove the very basis upon which the decision of the High Court in the writ petition was based. This question gives rise to further two questions first, what was the basis of the earlier decision; and second, what, if any, may be said to be the removal of that basis. In the earlier decision of the High Court, it was found that licence to construct the building upto 80 feet was repugnant to the Zonal Regulations framed under Section 13 of the Planning Act which provided a maximum height of new building as 55 feet. Thus, the provision of Zona ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sis has now been altered through an enhancement of the maximum permissible height retrospectively. We are, therefore, of the view that the impugned Act is constitutionally valid. It was then urged on behalf of the respondents that a perusal of the Statement of Objects and Reasons for the Validation Act shows that the intention of the legislature was rather to render the decision of the High Court infructuous than to correct any infirmity in the legal position. For this, reliance was sought to be placed on the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the impugned enactment. It is well settled by the decisions of this Court that when a validity of a particular statute is brought into question, a limited reference, but not reliance, may be made to the Statement of Objects and Reasons. The Statement of Objects and Reasons may, therefore, be employed for the purposes of comprehending the factual background, the prior state of legal affairs, the surrounding circumstances in respect of the statute and the evil which the statute has sought to remedy. It is manifest that the Statement of Objects and Reasons cannot, therefore, be the exclusive footing upon which a statute is made a nullity t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a new building in the statute itself and it is no longer left to the discretion of the authority to provide a maximum height of a new construction by framing Zonal Regulations under the Act. Now, the Outline Development Plan as prescribed in the Schedule appended to the new Act, cannot even be amended by the procedure prescribed under Chapter III of the Planning Act. The impugned Act substituted the existing Regulations with a statutory Zonal Regulation to the extent it provided maximum height of new building. Further, this is done with retrospective effect i.e. for the entire period during which the Outline Development Plan remained in force i.e. from 1972 to 1984. It is settled law that where a law is retrospectively amended, the consequences of such retrospective amendment are that all actions have to proceed on the premise that the law, as amended, was always the law in force. In that view of the matter there was neither any need for the legislature to modify the maximum height of a new building in the manner provided in the Planning Act nor to amend the provisions of the Planning Act providing for method of framing Zonal Regulations. For the aforesaid reasons we are of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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