Full Judgment Text
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NOS.8475-76 OF 2016
(Arising out of S.L.P. (C) Nos. 22991-92 of 2016)
Arun Dev Upadhyaya Appellant(s)
Versus
Integrated Sales Service Ltd & Anr. Respondent(s)
J U D G M E N T
Dipak Misra, J.
Aggrieved by the order dated 23.06.2016 passed by the Division
Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench,
Nagpur in C.A.M. No. 34 of 2016 in Arbitration Appeal No.3 of 2016
rejecting the preliminary objection raised by the appellant and further
being dissatisfied with the order dated 15.07.2016 expressing
disinclination to entertain the Civil Miscellaneous Application (Review),
the present appeals, by special leave, have been preferred for
annulling the same.
2. The facts which are relevant to be stated for adjudication of the
Signature Not Verified
st
appeals are that an award was passed in favour of the 1 respondent
Digitally signed by
CHETAN KUMAR
Date: 2016.09.30
16:38:43 IST
Reason:
in ICDR Case No. 50-181-T-00327-09 by the International Arbitration
Tribunal (for short, “the tribunal”) making the appellant the DMC
2
Management Consultants Limited and another jointly and severally
liable to pay USD 6,948,100 within ten days from the date of passing
of the award.
3. It is the case of the respondent that the international arbitration
award had attained finality as the appellant herein had not challenged
it under Delaware Law which is the applicable law. On 29.04.2010,
st
the 1 respondent filed an application under Sections 47 and 49 of the
Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for brevity, “the 1996 Act”) for
enforcement of the Award before the District Judge, Nagpur and the
proceeding continued before the concerned District Judge till the
Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (for short, “2015
rd
Act”) came into force with effect from 23 October 2015, by which the
High Court was conferred with the original jurisdiction in case of
International Commercial Arbitration. After the 2015 Act came into
st
force, the 1 respondent filed Misc. Civil Application No. 1319 of 2015
before the High Court for enforcement of the award. The Learned
Single Judge by his final order dated 18.04.2016 came to hold that the
award dated 28.03.2010 was enforceable against the DMC
Management Consultants Limited and passed a decree against it in
terms of the award. However, the learned single judge opined that the
award was not enforceable in India against the other respondent as
the arbitral tribunal could not have passed the award against them.
3
The opinion expressed by the learned Single Judge reads as follows:-
“(1) The award dated 28.3.2010 passed by the International
Arbitration Tribunal in ICDR Case No. 50181T0032709
becomes unenforceable in India to the extent it operates
against the non-applicant No. 2-Arun Dev s/o
Govindvishnu Upadhyaya and No. 3 Gemini Bay
Transcription Pvt. Ltd., and the claim for passing a decree
against them in terms of the said award is refused.
(2) The award passed by the International Arbitration
Tribunal in ICDR Case No. 50181T0032709 to the extent it
operates against the non-applicant No. 1-DMC Management
Consultants Ltd. is made enforceable in India and the
decree is passed in terms of the said award against the
non-applicant No. 1.”
4. Being dissatisfied with the decision of the learned single judge,
st
the 1 respondent preferred an appeal under Section 50(1)(b) of the
1996 Act read with Clause 15 of the Letters Patent of the High Court
of Bombay which was registered as Arbitration Appeal No. 3 of 2016.
5. The appellant herein who was the respondent before the High
Court filed application C.A.M No. 34 of 2016 contending, inter alia ,
that the appeal was not maintainable in view of the abolition of the
Letters Patent Appeal by Section 3(1) of the Maharashtra High Court
(Hearing of Writ Petitions by Division Bench and Abolition of Letters
Patent Appeals) Act, 1986 (for short, “the 1986 Act”). The Division
Bench repelled the said submission by placing reliance on an earlier
Division Bench judgment rendered in Padamshri Purushottam Vyas
1
& Ors. v. Tusar Dhansukhlal Shah and opined that the appeal is
1 2016 SCC ONLINE BOM 255
4
maintainable.
6. After the preliminary objection was rejected the appellant filed an
Misc. Civil Application (Review) No. 688 of 2016 by bringing into the
notice of the Court the decision in Fuerst Day Lawson Limited v.
2
Jindal Exports Limited and relied, especially on paragraphs 74, 75,
76 and 89 and propounded the point that the Letters Patent Appeal
under Clause 10 was not available in arbitration matters and Section
13 of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial
Appellate Division of the High Courts Act, 2015 (for short “the Act”)
would not be applicable to an arbitration appeal. The High Court
noticed the language used in Section 50(1)(b) of the 1996 Act and the
constitution of the forum under Section 15 of the Letters Patent and
opined that the submissions canvassed in support of the application
for review were absolutely unsustainable. Being of this view, the
Division Bench dismissed the application for review. As stated earlier,
both the orders have been challenged in these two appeals by special
leave.
7. We have heard Mr. Anish Kapur, learned senior counsel for the
appellant and Mr. Balbir Singh, learned senior counsel for the
respondent.
8. First we shall refer to the decision in Tusar Dhansukhlal Shah
2 (2011) 8 SCC 333
5
(supra) as the Division Bench in the impugned order has placed
reliance on the same. In the said case, the question that was posed
reads as follows:-
“The only question which falls for consideration is: whether
intra-court Letters Patent Appeals on the original side of
this Court are maintainable of this Court are maintainable
in respect of suits or other proceedings which are filed on
the original side of this Court.”
9. To answer the said question, the Court referred to Sections 2 and
3 of the 1986 Act. The said provisions read as follows:-
“2. Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the
time being in force or in any instrument having the force of
law, every application for the issue of any direction, order
or writ under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and
every application invoking the jurisdiction of the High
Court under Article 227 or Article 228 of the Constitution
of India, pending before the High Court of Judicature at
Bombay, on the date of commencement of this Act, or filed
on or after the said date, whether the matter in dispute is
or has arisen in Greater Bombay or outside Greater
Bombay, shall be heard and disposed of by a Division
Bench to be appointed by the Chief Justice of the High
Court:
Provided that, the High Court may, by rules made after
previous publication and with the previous approval of the
State Government, prescribe that such of the applications
referred to above, arising in Greater Bombay or outside
Greater Bombay, as may be specified in the rules, may be
heard and disposed of by a single Judge appointed by the
Chief Justice.
3. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Letters
Patent for the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, dated
th
the 28 December, 1985 and in any other instrument
having the force of law or in any other law for the time
being in force, no appeal, arising from a suit or other
proceeding (including the applications referred to in
section 2) instituted or commenced, whether before or
after the commencement of this Act, shall lie to the High
6
Court from a judgment, decree or order of a single Judge
of the High Court made on or after the commencement of
this Act, whether in the exercise of the original or appellate
jurisdiction of the High Court.”
10. Thereafter, the High Court referred to the Constitution Bench
judgment in Jamshed N. Guzdar v. State of Maharashtra and
3
others , noted that before this Court, the counsel appearing for the
State of Maharashtra had found that there was anomaly in Section 3
of the 1986 Act and accordingly made a concession which has been
noted in paragraph 18 of the judgment. It reads as follows:-
“Mr U.U. Lalit, learned Senior Counsel for the State of
Maharashtra, while supporting the impugned judgment
submitted that there is an anomaly created by, or deficiency
found in Section 3 of the 1986 Act inasmuch as Section 3 of
the said Act read with Section 9 of the 1987 Act fails to
make any provision for appeal against a decree or order
passed after the commencement of the Act in any suit or
other proceedings pending in the High Court since before
the commencement of the Act. He sought ten days’ time to
have instructions from the State of Maharashtra in this
regard. Thereafter, on the basis of Letter No. 37-PF 2131097
dated 17-12-2004 of the Principal Secretary and RLA, State
of Maharashtra, IA No. 10 is filed seeking permission to
place on record the said letter indicating the willingness of
the State of Maharashtra to take necessary steps to make
legislative amendment to Section 3 of Maharashtra Act 17 of
1986, relevant portions of which read:
“With reference to the above subject, I have to state
that you are hereby given instructions to make a
statement before the Hon’ble Supreme Court that the
State of Maharashtra will take necessary steps to make
legislative amendment to Section 3(1) of Maharashtra Act
17 of 1986 [the Maharashtra High Court (Hearing of Writ
Petitions by Division Bench and Abolition of Letters
3 (2005) 2 SCC 591
7
Patent Appeals) Act, 1986] to make a provision for appeal
against the judgment, order and decree passed on the
appointed date by the High Court and thereafter as may
be indicated in the judgment of the Supreme Court.””
11. After the said judgment, the State of Maharashtra brought an
amendment, i.e., Maharashtra High Court (Hearing of Writ Petitions
by Division Bench and Abolition of Letters Patent Appeals)
Amendment Act, 2008 (Maharashtra Act No. XXVII of 2008). The High
Court referred to statement of objects and reasons of the said
Amendment Act and reproduced Section 3 which has come into
existence after the amendment. Interpreting Section 3, the Division
Bench ruled that:-
“… The words “an appeal under any statute” clearly
referred to any appeal provided under any provision
under the statute and where such an appeal is heard by
single Judge of the High Court then against such orders
passed in appeal by a single Judge of the High Court.
Appeals, therefore, provided under Arbitration Act and
other Acts which provide that these appeals are to be
heard by the single Judge of the High Court then against
the order passed in such appeals, Letters Patent Appeal is
not maintainable. Here, again, a distinction will have to
be drawn between the appeals which are filed from the
orders passed by the District Courts, other than the
orders passed by the single Judge on the original side of
the Bombay High Court. Such appeals which are filed
against the orders passed by the District Courts, would be
heard by the Single Judge of this Court and against such
orders passed by the single Judge of the High Court,
Letters Patent Appeal would not be maintainable.
However, where Petition is filed before the single Judge of
this Court under any provision under the statute, the
appeal against such an order would still be maintainable
before the Division Bench of this Court. This distinction
8
therefore has to be kept in mind while construing the
meaning of the words “appeal arising from a statute”. To
give an example, a Petition under section 34 of the
Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 where Arbitral
Tribunal passes an award – say in the City of Pune – such
a petition under Article 34 of the Act would be
maintainable before the District Court. An appeal under
section 37 would be maintainable in the High Court
before the Single Judge on the Appellate Side. No Letters
Patent Appeal against the order passed by the single
Judge under section 37 can be filed before the Division
Bench of this Court, whereas if the Arbitral Tribunal
passes an award in City of Mumbai, a Petition under
section 34 could be filed on the original side of this Court
and, it would be heard by the single Judge sitting on the
original side of this Court. Appeal, however, against such
an order would be maintainable before the Division Bench
of this Court and it would not be barred by the words
“appeal arising from a statute”...”
Be it noted that the Division Bench has referred to earlier
4
judgment in Jet Air (India) Ltd. v. Subrata Roy Sahara and
concluded that an appeal arising out of any suit or proceeding which
are filed on the original side would be maintainable in view of the
Amendment Act of 2008. The impugned order, as we find, placing
heavy reliance on the aforesaid decision has opined that the Letters
Patent Appeal is maintainable.
12. The pivotal question is whether an appeal against the judgment
of the Single Judge in an international arbitration matter is appealable
to the Division Bench or to put it otherwise, whether the intra-court
appeal would lie because of the Letters Patent. In this context, it
4 2011 SCC Online Bom 1379
9
is necessary to refer to Section 50 of the 1996 Act, which provides for
appeals. It is extracted hereunder:-
| “ | 50. Appealable orders.— |
|---|
(1)An appeal shall lie from the order refusing to—
(a) refer the parties to arbitration under section 45;
(b) enforce a foreign award under section 48, to the court
authorised by law to hear appeals from such order.
(2) No second appeal shall lie from an order passed in
appeal under this section, but nothing in this section shall
affect or take away any right to appeal to the Supreme
Court.”
13. On a careful reading of the aforesaid provision, it is limpid that
appeal can lie if an order is passed refusing to refer the parties to
arbitration as engrafted under Section 45 of the 1996 Act or to enforce
a foreign award as envisaged under Section 48 of the said Act. Scheme
of Section 50 came up for interpretation before this Court in
Shin-Etsu Chemical Company Ltd. (2) and others v. Vindhya
5
Telelinks Ltd. and others wherein it has been ruled thus:-
“Sections 45 and 50 in Part II of the Act relating to
“enforcement of certain foreign awards”, correspond to
Sections 8 and 37 of Part I of the Act. Sub-section (1) of
Section 50 provides for an appeal from an order refusing to
refer the parties to arbitration under Section 45, to the
court authorised by law to hear appeal by such order.
Therefore, the appellant challenged the orders of the Civil
Judge (Class I), Rewa before the Additional District Judge,
Rewa which is said to be the court authorised to hear
appeals from the orders of the Civil Judge (Class I).
5 (2009) 14 SCC 16
10
Sub-section (2) of Section 50 bars second appeals. It
provides that no appeal shall lie from an order passed in
appeal under Section 50. It, however, clarifies that nothing
in Section 50 shall affect or take away any right to appeal to
the Supreme Court”.
14. In the said case a contention was advanced relying on
sub-Section (2) of Section 50 that though an appeal may not lie from
an order passed in appeal, the right of appeal to the Supreme Court
having been specifically stated, the appellant therein could maintain
an appeal before this Court. It was contended that the appellant had
a right of appeal to this Court. The two-Judge Bench placing reliance
on Nirma Ltd. v. Lurgi Lentjes Energietechnik Gmbh and
6
another , ITI Ltd. v. Siemens Public Communications Network
7 8
Ltd. , Shyam Sunder Agarwal & Co. v. Union of India and
Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Limited v. Kewal Singh
9
Dhillon , held:-
“20. The right to appeal to the Supreme Court referred and
excluded from the bar contained in Section 50(2) of the Act,
refers to appeals under Article 132 or 133(1) against any
judgment, decree or final order of the High Court, if the
High Court certified under Article 134-A that the case
involves a substantial question of law as to interpretation of
the Constitution or that the case involves a substantial
question of law of general importance and that in the
opinion of the High Court the said question needs to be
decided by the Supreme Court. The words “right to appeal”
refer to a right conferred either under the Constitution or
under a statute to file an appeal to a higher court against
6 (2002) 5 SCC 520
7 (2002) 5 SCC 510
8 (1996) 2 SCC 132
9 (2008) 10 SCC 128
11
the judgment, decree or order of a lower court, without
having to first obtain any permission or leave.
21. In the absence of a constitutional or statutory provision
for an appeal as of right, the appellant cannot contend that
it has a “right to appeal” to the Supreme Court. An appeal
by special leave to the Supreme Court cannot therefore be
considered as an appeal as of right or as an appeal in
pursuance of a right to appeal to the Supreme Court”.
15. Presently, we may refer to the decision in P.S. Sathappan
10
(dead) by Lrs. v. Andhra Bank Ltd. and others , wherein the
Constitution Bench was considering the maintainability of the Letters
Patent Appeal that arose from the High Court of Madras. The Court
referred to various provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and
certain clauses of the Letters Patent applicable to the Madras High
Court and also referred to Clause 15 of the letters patent of the
Bombay High Court and held that:-
“21 . We are of the opinion that in reaching this conclusion
the Court missed the relevant portion of clause 15 of the
Letters Patent of the Bombay High Court. Reliance cannot,
therefore, be placed on this judgment for the proposition
that under clause 15 of the Letters Patent of the Bombay
High Court no appeal to a Division Bench from the order of
the Single Judge in exercise of appellate jurisdiction is
maintainable.
22. Thus the unanimous view of all courts till 1996 was
that Section 104(1) CPC specifically saved letters patent
appeals and the bar under Section 104(2) did not apply to
letters patent appeals. The view has been that a letters
patent appeal cannot be ousted by implication but the right
of an appeal under the Letters Patent can be taken away by
an express provision in an appropriate legislation. The
10 (2004) 11 SCC 672
12
express provision need not refer to or use the words “letters
patent” but if on a reading of the provision it is clear that all
further appeals are barred then even a letters patent appeal
would be barred”.
And again:-
“A Letters Patent is a special law for the High Court
concerned. The Civil Procedure Code is a general law
applicable to all courts. It is well-settled law, that in the
event of a conflict between a special law and a general law,
the special law must always prevail. We see no conflict
between the Letters Patent and Section 104 but if there was
any conflict between a Letters Patent and the Civil
Procedure Code then the provisions of the Letters Patent
would always prevail unless there was a specific exclusion.
This is also clear from Section 4 of the Civil Procedure Code
which provides that nothing in the Code shall limit or affect
any special law. As set out in Section 4 CPC only a specific
provision to the contrary can exclude the special law. The
specific provision would be a provision like Section 100-A”.
16. In Fuerst Day Lawson Limited (supra), the two-Judge Bench
was dealing with the question whether an order, though not
appealable under Section 50 of the 1996 Act would nevertheless be
subject to appeal under the relevant provision of the Letters Patent of
the High Court. In other words, even though the 1996 Act does not
envisage or permit an appeal from the order, the party aggrieved by it
can still have his way bypassing the said Act and taking recourse to
another jurisdiction. To answer the said question the Court referred
to various decisions in the field and culled out the broad principles
which are reproduced below:-
13
“( i ) Normally, once an appeal reaches the High Court it has
to be determined according to the rules of practice and
procedure of the High Court and in accordance with the
provisions of the charter under which the High Court is
constituted and which confers on it power in respect to the
method and manner of exercising that power.
( ii ) When a statute merely directs that an appeal shall lie to
a court already established then that appeal must be
regulated by the practice and procedure of that court.
( iii ) The High Court derives its intra-court appeal
jurisdiction under the Charter by which it was established
and its powers under the Letters Patent were recognised
and saved by Section 108 of the Government of India Act,
1915, Section 223 of the Government of India Act, 1935 and
finally, by Article 225 of the Constitution of India. The High
Court, therefore, cannot be divested of its Letters Patent
jurisdiction unless provided for expressly or by necessary
intendment by some special statute.
( iv ) If the pronouncement of the Single Judge qualifies as a
“judgment”, in the absence of any bar created by a statute
either expressly or by necessary implication, it would be
subject to appeal under the relevant clause of the Letters
Patent of the High Court.
( v ) Since Section 104(1) CPC specifically saves the letters
patent appeal; it could only be excluded by an express
mention in Section 104(2). In the absence of any express
mention in Section 104(2), the maintainability of a letters
patent appeal is saved by virtue of Section 104(1).
( vi ) Limitation of a right of appeal in absence of any
provision in a statute cannot be readily inferred. The
appellate jurisdiction of a superior court cannot be taken as
excluded simply because a subordinate court exercises its
special jurisdiction.
( vii ) The exception to the aforementioned rule is where the
special Act sets out a self-contained code and in that event
the applicability of the general law procedure would be
14
impliedly excluded. The express provision need not refer to
or use the words “letters patent” but if on a reading of the
provision it is clear that all further appeals are barred then
even a letters patent appeal would be barred”.
17. The Court thereafter referred to Section 50 of the 1996 Act and
analysed the earlier decisions in the field including the judgment in
11
Union of India v. Mohindra Supply Co. wherein it has been held
that the Letters Patent Appeal against an order passed by a Single
Judge of the High Court in appeal under Section 39(1) of the
Arbitration Act, 1940 was not maintainable in terms of sub-section (2)
of Section 39 of the said Act. Though appeal was held not
maintainable in view of the express language employed in sub-section
(2) of Section 39 of the Arbitration Act, 1940, the two-Judge Bench
took note of the observation which is to the following effect:-
“ … The proceedings relating to arbitration are, since the
enactment of Arbitration Act 10 of 1940, governed by the
provisions of that Act. The Act is a consolidating and
amending statute. It repealed the Arbitration Act of 1899,
Schedule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure and also clauses
( a ) to ( f ) of Section 104(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure
which provided for appeals from orders in arbitration
proceedings. The Act set up machinery for all contractual
arbitrations and its provisions, subject to certain
exceptions, apply also to every arbitration under any other
enactment for the time being in force, as if the arbitration
were pursuant to an arbitration agreement and as if that
other enactment were an arbitration agreement, except
insofar as the Arbitration Act is inconsistent with that other
enactment or with any rules made thereunder.”
18. Relying on the said authority and also appreciating the decision
11 AIR 1962 SC 256 : (1962) 3 SCR 497
15
of the Constitution Bench in P.S. Sathappan (supra) the Court ruled
thus:-
“It is, thus, to be seen that Arbitration Act, 1940, from its
inception and right through to 2004 (in P.S. Sathappan ) was
held to be a self-contained code. Now, if the Arbitration Act,
1940 was held to be a self-contained code, on matters
pertaining to arbitration, the Arbitration and Conciliation
Act, 1996, which consolidates, amends and designs the law
relating to arbitration to bring it, as much as possible, in
harmony with the UNCITRAL Model must be held only to be
more so. Once it is held that the Arbitration Act is a
self-contained code and exhaustive, then it must also be
held, using the lucid expression of Tulzapurkar, J., that it
carries with it “a negative import that only such acts as are
mentioned in the Act are permissible to be done and acts or
things not mentioned therein are not permissible to be
done”. In other words, a letters patent appeal would be
excluded by the application of one of the general principles
that where the special Act sets out a self-contained code the
applicability of the general law procedure would be
impliedly excluded.
19. The ultimate conclusion reached by the Court is to the following
effect:-
“90. We, thus, arrive at the conclusion regarding the
exclusion of a letters patent appeal in two different ways;
one, so to say, on a micro basis by examining the scheme
devised by Sections 49 and 50 of the 1996 Act and the
radical change that it brings about in the earlier provision of
appeal under Section 6 of the 1961 Act and the other on a
macro basis by taking into account the nature and
character of the 1996 Act as a self-contained and
exhaustive code in itself.
91. In light of the discussions made above, it must be held
that no letters patent appeal will lie against an order which
is not appealable under Section 50 of the Arbitration and
Conciliation Act, 1996.
16
20. In the case at hand, the proceeding was initiated before the
learned District Judge. During the pendency of the proceeding, the
Explanation of sub-section (2) of Section 47 of the 1996 Act was
amended. The amended Explanation reads as follows:-
“Explanation: In this section and in the sections following
in this Chapter, “Court” means the High Court having
original jurisdiction to decide the questions forming the
subject-matter of the arbitral award if the same had been
the subject-matter of a suit on its original civil jurisdiction
and in other cases, in the High Court having jurisdiction
to hear appeals from decrees of courts subordinate to
such High Court.”
21. In spite of the amendment, the learned District Judge passed an
order. However, the respondent moved the High Court and it was
accepted by both the parties before the learned Single Judge that the
District Judge had no jurisdiction and thereafter the learned Single
Judge took up the matter and passed the order. The Division Bench
in the impugned order has referred to Section 13(1) of the Act. It
reads as follows:-
“13 (1) Any person aggrieved by the decision of the
Commercial Court or Commercial Division of a High Court
may appeal to the Commercial Appellate Division of that
High Court within a period of sixty days from the date of
judgment or order, as the case may be:
Provided that an appeal shall lie from such orders passed
by a Commercial Division or a Commercial Court that are
specifically enumerated under Order XLIII of the Code of
Civil Procedure, 1908 as amended by this Act and section
37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.”
22. On a perusal of the aforesaid provision, it is crystal clear that an
17
appeal would lie if it is in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
The said provision has to be read in conjunction with Section 5 of the
Act. Section 5 of the Act reads as under:-
“5. (1) After issuing notification under sub-section (1) of
section 3 or order under sub-section (1) of section 4, the
Chief Justice of the concerned High Court shall, by order,
constitute Commercial Appellate Division having one or
more Division Benches for the purpose of exercising the
jurisdiction and powers conferred on it by the Act.
(2) The Chief Justice of the High Court shall nominate such
Judges of the High Court who have experience in dealing
with commercial disputes to be Judges of the Commercial
Appellate Division.”
23. The aforesaid provision clearly lays down that a forum is created,
i.e., Commercial Appellate Division. Section 50(1)(b) of the 1996 Act
provides for an appeal. Section 50(1)(b) has not been amended by the
Act that has come into force on 23.10.2015. Thus, an appeal under
Section 50(1)(b) of the 1996 Act before the Division Bench is
maintainable.
24. Thus analysed, we find that the impugned judgment of the
learned Single Judge under Section 50(1)(b) of the 1996 Act is passed
in the original side of the High Court. Be that as it may, under
Section 13 of the Act, the single Judge has taken the decision. Section
13 bars an appeal under Letters Patent unless an appeal is provided
under the 1996 Act. Such an appeal is provided under Section 5 of
the Act. The Letters Patent Appeal could not have been invoked if
Section 50 of the 1996 Act would not have provided for an appeal.
18
But it does provide for an appeal. A conspectus reading of Sections 5
and 13 of the Act and Section 50 of the 1996 Act which has remained
unamended leads to the irresistible conclusion that a Letters Patent
Appeal is maintainable before the Division Bench. It has to be treated
as an appeal under Section 50(1)(b) of the 1996 Act and has to be
adjudicated within the said parameters.
25. Resultantly, we affirm the judgment of the High Court though for
different reasons. Accordingly the appeals stand dismissed without
any order as to costs.
……………………… J.
(Dipak Misra)
……………………… J.
(C. Nagappan)
New Delhi;
September 30, 2016
19
ITEM NO.1B COURT NO.4 SECTION IX
(For Judgment)
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Civil Appeal Nos.8475-8476/2016
ARUN DEV UPADHYAYA Appellant(s)
VERSUS
INTEGRATED SALES SERVICE LIMITED AND ANR. Respondent(s)
Date : 30/09/2016 These appeals were called on for pronouncement
of Judgment today.
For Appellant(s) Mr. Anish Kapur, Adv.
Mr. Kuber Dewan, Adv.
Ms. Divya Bhalla, Adv.
Ms. Neeharika Aggarwal, Adv.
Ms. B. Vijayalakshmi Menon, AOR
For Respondent(s) Mr. Balbir Singh, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Gagan Sanghi, Adv.
Mr. Devendra V. Chauhan, Adv.
Rubal Maini, Adv.
Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dipak Misra pronounced the
judgment of the Bench comprising His Lordship and Hon'ble Mr.
Justice C. Nagappan.
The appeals are dismissed in terms of the signed
reportable judgment.
(Chetan Kumar)
(H.S. Parasher)
Court Master
Court Master
(Signed reportable judgment is placed on the file)