9911796707
TMI Blog2000 (9) TMI 993X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amal Oswal v. Vardhaman Spinning and General Mills Ltd. doubt was also expressed by another Division Bench of this court, wherein it passed the following order : At the commencement of the hearing Shri Narang pointed out that in the absence of any rules requiring laying of appeals filed under section 10F of the Companies Act, 1956, before the court, which came into force on May 13, 1991, this appeal should not have been placed before the motion Bench and should have been treated as admitted automatically by the registry. Since the point raised by learned counsel will affect other cases also, we deem it proper to direct the office to submit a comprehensive report in the matter. Put up on August 3, 1998. The question has not been answered by the Division Bench in that appeal as of today. Thus, after hearing learned counsel at some length, we reserve the order." 2. Learned counsel appearing for the respective parties had submitted various judgments, the copies of which were given subsequent to the date of hearing. Resultantly, the matter was listed for re-hearing and then was finally reserved for orders on July 18, 2000, by us. 3. In order to squarely answer the c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble to a Division Bench of this court under Letters Patent Act (Clause X) read with Volume V, Chapter 3, Part B of the Rules and Orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court. By virtue of the provisions of the amending Act of 1991, the very forum for institution of the petition under sections 397 and 398 was changed or altered. Such petition could alone be filed before the Company Law Board under the amended provisions of section 397 of the Companies Act, and it has to be disposed of by the duly constituted Board in accordance with the self-prescribed procedure and spirit of provisions of section 10E of the Act. The order passed under section 10E which involves a question of law is appealable to the High Court under section 10F of the Act. Section 10F of the Act reads as under : "10F. Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Company Law Board may file an appeal to the High Court within sixty days from the date of communication of the decision or order of the Company Law Board to him on any question of law arising out of such order : Provided that the High Court may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ub-ordinate court, regular first appeal under the Land Acquisition Act, regular second appeal, first appeal against orders, first appeal against order under Central or State Acts, unless otherwise provided in the Act, execution first appeals, execution second appeals, second appeal against orders, second appeal against order under Central or State Acts unless otherwise provided in the Act, civil revision petitions and any other application or petition under Code of Civil Procedure or under any Central or State Act, unless otherwise provided in the Code or Act. Explanation. The preliminary hearing for the admission of appeal against award rendered by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, appeal against the decree or order passed under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Letters Patent Appeals, Civil Appeals (Contempt), Company Appeals, Sales Tax cases and Gift-tax cases shall be before a Bench of two judges." 7. It appears that as per the High Court Rules and Orders, as they stand today, such an appeal would be heard by a bench of two or more judges for the purposes of preliminary hearing for admission of the appeal though thereafter such matter may be finally disposed of by compan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mmerat v. Sakal Papers (P.) Ltd. [1985] 57 Comp. Cas. 469 (SC); AIR 1983 SC 269, is not attracted to the facts of the present case. . . . ****** Rule 1 abovestated clearly provides that a motion for the admission of matters mentioned in clause ( i ) thereof shall ordinarily be heard and disposed of by a judge sitting alone. The Explanation is an exception to clause ( i ) and by virtue of the Explanation , in matters including company appeals for the above purpose, that is, a motion for the admission, be set down before a Bench of two judges instead of a judge sitting alone. It would thus be evident that the relevant rules of this court expressly envisage a company appeal to be listed for motion hearing before a Division Bench. Once a matter comes up for admission purposes, it would be for the Division Bench while hearing the matter either to admit it for final hearing or to dismiss it, if it finds no merits therein." (pp. 705-706) Company matters even if treated as a commercial cause are being heard by the judge nominated by the Chief Justice as the "company judge". We are unable to agree with the contention raised on behalf of the petitioner that as a necessary corolla ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rule of interpretation that a provision should be interpreted so as not to take away a right which may otherwise be available to a litigant in the normal course of law. In this regard reference can be made to the judgment of this court in the case of H.S. Tuli Sons Builders (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India [2000] 1 All Instant Judgments 541. 11. Conscious of the above reasoning, however, keeping in view the legal scenario emerging from the amended provisions of the Companies Act, their implication in law and effects on the prescribed procedure, we would consider it appropriate to emphasise the need for amending the existing relevant High Court Rules and Orders to provide an appropriate appellate forum against the orders of the Company Law Board. Amendments are certainly called for in view of the amendments to the Act. We are of the considered view that such amendments would not only save the time of the Division Benches of the court as appeals could well be heard by the company judge against the orders of the Company Law Board, but it will also help in expeditious disposal of appeals. Therefore, we direct the Registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice for His Lordsh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
