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1996(8) Supreme 97
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Kuldip Singh and B.L. Hansaria, JJ.
Shiv Sagar Tiwari -Petitioner
versus
Union of India & Ors. -Respondents
Writ Petition (C) No. 585 of 1994
Decided on 8-11-1996
Counsel For the Parties :
For the Petitioner : Mr. Shiv Sagar Tiwari, Petitioner in person, Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Advocate and Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Advocate.
For the Respondents : Mr. Altaf Ahmed, ASG, Mr. S.S. Ray and Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, Sr. Advocates, Mr. T.C. Sharma, Ms. Sushma Suri, Mr. V.K. Verma, Mr. Hemant Sharma, Ms. A. Subhasini, Mr. S.R. Hegde, Mr. Akshay Anand, Mr. Rama Kant, Mr. Rajiv K. Garg, Mr. N.L. Garg, Mr. R.S. Sodhi, Mr. Raj Kumar Gupta, Mr. H.P. Sharma, Mr. A.N. Bardiyar and Ms. Kamini Jaiswal, Advocates.
Held : After giving our thoughtful consideration to the material on record and in particular the findings of this Court- quoted above - the answer has to be in the affirmative. Smt. Shiela Kaul s action was wholly arbitrary, malafide and unconstitutional. This Court has given clear finding in the judgment/orders quoted above to this effect. We, therefore, hold that Smt. Shiela Kaul is liable to pay exemplary damages. (Para 10)
After examining all the facts and circumstances of the case and giving our thoughtful consideration to this aspect, we direct Smt. Shiela Kaul to pay a sum of Rs. 60 lacs (on all counts) as exemplary damages to the Government Exchequer. Since the property with which Smt. Shiela Kaul was dealing was public property, the Government which is "by the people" has to be compensated. We further direct Smt. Shiela Kaul to deposit the amount with the secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India within nine months from today. The amount if not paid, shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue. (Para 13)
ORDER
One of the issues for consideration before this Court in this Public Interest Petition is the validity of the allotments of 52 shops/stalls made by Smt. Shiela Kaul. the then Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Government of India.
2. While monitoring this case, this Court has passed vaious interim orders from time to time. It would be useful to quote three such orders. The relevant part of the order dated April 17, 1996 is as under :
"The material placed before us inter alia, discloses that 41 shops/stalls allotted by Smt. Shiela Kaul on June 7, 1995 and 2 shops allotted on July 3, 1995 were in total contravention of the rules/policy approved by herself on December 26, 1994. These shops/stalls were situated in Lodhi Road Complex - I & II, Hanuman Road Market, Baba Kharak Singh Marg Market, DIZ area Market, and Pleasure Garden near Lajpat Nagar Market. The material on the record further shows that the said 43 shops/stalls were allotted by Smt. Shiela Kaul without issuing any public notice/inviting applications from the eligible persons which was in violation of the policy formulated by her on December 26, 1994. The material also discloses that orders of allotment in respect of said 41 shops/stalls were passed by Smt. Shiela Kaul on June 7, 1995 (5 shops and 36 stalls). The material further discloses that all the six shops have been allotted by her to her own relations/employees/domestic servants of her family members and family friends. She has allotted two shops to her two grand-sons, one shop to the maid servant of her son, Shri Vikram Kaul, who is residing in Dubai. One shop to Handloom Manager of the firm, owned by her son-in-law and another shop to a close friend. One shop has been allotted to the nephew of her Minister of State, Shri P.K. Thungon. It is further on the record that while making allotments in respect of stalls she has allotted most of the stalls to the relations, friends of her personal staff and officials of Directorate of Estate. The details and the names of allottees and their relationship have also been placed on the record."
The relevant part of the order dated July 19, 1996 is as under :
"Mr. N.N. Singh, Superintendent of Police, CBI, New Delhi has placed on record interim report No. 3 dated June 17, 1996 and Interim Report No. 4 dated July 16, 1996. Interim Report No. 3 indicates that a separate preliminary enquiry was registered against Smt. Shiela Kaul and others in the matters of allotment of shops/stalls made by her on June 7, 1995 and July 3, 1995 in favour of her close relations/friends of her personal staff as well as those of the officials of Directorate of Estates. According to the report, the preliminary enquiry, prima facie, establishes that Smt. Shiela Kaul has abused her official position as the Minister for Urban Development and she had entered into a criminal conspiracy with some of the acquaintances and her personal staff, pursuant to which she in abuse of her official position, made these allotments and caused wrongful loss to the Government by effecting allotments on economical licence fees basis without inviting any tender or by issuing public notice for inviting the response from the general public from the point of view of earning maximum revenue for the Government. A regular case under Section 120-B, 420, 468/471 IPC and Section 13(2) read with 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, has been registered against Shiela Kaul and her additional Private Secretary Rajan S. Lala and others."
The order dated September 6, 1996 to the extent relevant is as under :
"Pursuant to this Court s order dated July 19, 1996, the Director of Estates has filed its report along with an affidavit regarding the shops and stalls allotted by Smt. Shiela Kaul. It is stated that from 1992 onwards 52 shops have been sanctioned by the then Minister for Urban Development (Smt. Shiela Kaul) out of which 7 shops were allotted by Smt. Shiela Kaul before she herself had approved the policy in
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