IMPORTANT POINTS
1. Normally the Court should be slow to interfere with the opinions expressed by the experts.” It would normally be wise and safe for the Courts to leave decision to experts who are more familiar with the problems they face than the Courts generally can be.
2. Recording of reasons is principle of natural justice and every judicial order must be supported by reasons recorded in writing.

Headnote:Victoria Memorial Act, 1903-Appeal against judgment and order of High Court by which the application filed by appellant for modification of order passed in Writ Petition was rejected-Appellant had submitted before High Court that modification of the order was necessary and appellant be permitted to raise construction upto height of 30 ft. at the same place where it has cluster of constructions which was being used as a non-residential staff quarters- It was contended that height of monument was 56.0832 meters and, therefore, construction, if permitted, to be raised would, by no means, adversely affect the grand view of the monument and it would not hamper any activity of monument- High Court rejected application for modification, so far as permitting construction of building after demolition of non-residential staff quarters was concerned -Held High Court failed to appreciate that application was filed by appellant as it was not possible for VMH to get appropriate space nearby the monument in Kolkata- More so, neither the Pollution Control Board, nor Kolkata Municipal Corporation, nor the Suptd. Archeologist of Archeological Survey of India of Kolkata Circle, raised any objection in respect of the construction of a new building- The building was proposed to be constructed by replacing the old existing constructions at a distance of at least 160 mtrs. from Monument- The Court failed to consider that museum activities were to be expanded by the appellant which would not adversely affect the monument at all,particularly when there was no prohibition under the Act to carry out such activities-High Court failed to appreciate that the proposed building would be designed with great care, ensuring that new construction would not, by any means, disturb existing landscape and would be in consonance with existing ambience and compatible with the architecture and fagade of the existing monument- The height of the proposed building would not be more than 10 mtrs. while height of the monument is more than 50 mtrs- Thus, it would not prevent the view of the monument by any means- High Court ought to have given reasons for not accepting the report of the Expert Committee- The ground of preserving the greenery was totally misplaced and mis-conceived for the reason that building was to be constructed by demolishing the servant quarters etc. which were in a dilapidated condition- Indisputably, High Court did not assign valid and good reasons for rejecting the recommendation made by Expert Committee for allowing the construction in question in its judgment nor the reasons had been recorded in the impugned judgment rejecting the application for modification of earlier order- Impugned judgment set aside- Application filed by appellant for modification of order allowed-Appeal allowed. (Paras 19, 20, 25, 26, 33 to 35)
        Principles of Natural Justice- Recording of reasons is principle of natural justice and every judicial order must be supported by reasons recorded in writing- It is a settled legal proposition that not only administrative but also judicial order must be supported by reasons, recorded in it- Thus, while deciding an issue, Court is bound to give reasons for its conclusion- It is the duty and obligation on part of Court to record reasons while disposing of the case- The hallmark of an order and exercise of judicial power by a judicial forum is to disclose its reasons by itself and giving of reasons has always been insisted upon as one of fundamentals of sound administration justice - delivery system, to make known that there had been proper and due application of mind to issue before Court and also as an essential requisite of principles of natural justice- “The giving of reasons for a decision is an essential attribute of judicial and judicious disposal of a matter before Courts, and which is the only indication to know about the manner and quality of exercise undertaken, as also the fact that the Court concerned had really applied its mind.”- Reason is the heartbeat of every conclusion- It introduces clarity in an order and without the same, it becomes lifeless- Reasons substitute subjectivity by objectivity- Absence of reasons renders the order indefensible/unsustainable particularly when the order is subject to further challenge before a higher forum. (Paras 31 to 33)
       Facts of the Case :
        Present Appeal has been filed against judgment and order of High Court by which the application filed by appellant for modification of order passed in Writ Petition was rejected.Appellant had submitted before High Court that modification of the order was necessary and appellant be permitted to raise construction upto height of 30 ft. at the same place where it has cluster of constructions which was being used as a non-residential staff quarters. It was contended that height of monument was 56.0832 meters and, therefore, construction, if permitted, to be raised would, by no means, adversely affect the grand view of the monument and it would not hamper any activity of monument. High Court rejected application for modification, so far as permitting construction of building after demolition of non-residential staff quarters was concerned .
       Findings of the Court :
        Held High Court failed to appreciate that application was filed by appellant as it was not possible for VMH to get appropriate space nearby the monument in Kolkata. More so, neither the Pollution Control Board, nor Kolkata Municipal Corporation,nor the Suptd. Archeologist of Archeological Survey of India of Kolkata Circle, raised any objection in respect of the construction of a new building. The building was proposed to be constructed by replacing the old existing constructions at a distance of at least 160 mtrs. from Monument. The Court failed to consider that museum activities were to be expanded by the appellant which would not adversely affect the monument at all,particularly when there was no prohibition under the Act to carry out such activities. High Court failed to appreciate that the proposed building would be designed with great care, ensuring that new construction would not, by any means, disturb existing landscape and would be in consonance with existing ambience and compatible with the architecture and fagade of the existing monument. The height of the proposed building would not be more than 10 mtrs. while height of the monument is more than 50 mtrs. Thus, it would not prevent the view of the monument by any means. High Court ought to have given reasons for not accepting the report of the Expert Committee. The ground of preserving the greenery was totally misplaced and mis-conceived for the reason that building was to be constructed by demolishing the servant quarters etc. which were in a dilapidated condition.
       Result : Appeal allowed.

JUDGMENT

Dr. B.S. Chauhan, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellant has preferred this appeal against the judgment and order of the High Court of Calcutta dated 21.8.2009 by which the application filed by the appellant for modification of order dated 28.9.2007 passed in Writ Petition No.7987(W) of 2002, stood rejected.

3. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this appeal are as under:

A foundation stone of Victoria Memorial Hall (hereinafter called ‘VMH’) was laid by the king George the Vth (the then Prince of Wales) on January 4, 1906. Between years 1908 and 1921 various objects of arts, manuscripts, medals, arms and armours were collected and preserved for being transferred and displayed at VMH upon construction and on December 28, 1921 its construction was mostly completed. It was inaugurated by the Edward, the VIIIth (the then Prince of Wales) and was opened for public viewing. Afterwards, the Museum attained the status of National Museum of modern Indian history starting from 18th century. In the year 1925, illustrated catalogue of exhibits in VMH was published. Between years 1934 and 1935 cupolas were added to the main monument. The memorial is the repository of a largest number of Daniells’ paintings in the world. It possesses the third largest painting in the world-Vassili Verestchagin’s “The State Procession of the Prince of Wales into Jaipur in 1876”. The memorial’s philatelic collection on Indian postal history is equally large. Among other important collections, one may refer to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s hand-written Quran or Dara Sikoh’s translation of the Upanishads. Equally important and fascinating are the works of Johann Zoffany, Tilly Kettle, Hodges, Samuel Davis, Robert Home, Reynolds, Charles D’oyly, Emily Eden, George Stubbs’ painting of Hastings, and Qazar, painting of Fatah Ali Shah, Tipu Sultan’s personal war-diary, and the Cannon-balls of the battle of Plassey. Other than the Curzonian scheme of collection and arrangement of the exhibits, the post-independence collections include National Leaders’ Gallery as well as collections of other artifacts-Bankim Chandra’s writing desk, Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes, paintings of Abanindranath, Atul Bose and Jamini Roy, etc. A total of about 27,000 artifacts (e.g. painting, watercolours, stamps, coins, arms and armour) exists in the VMH. VMH monument has a covered area of 1.7632 acres and is situated in a portion of a large campus having an area of about 57 acres. There have all along been within the Campus annexe buildings having total covered area of around 5000 Sq. meters. These annexe buildings were built for being used as non family duty quarters, garage for tractors and cars, stores of garden equipment, dormitory, staff canteen, recreation room, union room and a block of toilets. The old annexe buildings have become dilapidated through passage of time. In December, 2000, the Government of India advised VMH to take steps for modernisation of VMH with the help of National Institute of Design.

VMH is administered and managed by an autonomous Board of Trustees constituted under Victoria Memorial Act, 1903 (hereinafter called ‘Act’). The Chairman of the Board of Trustees is the Governor of the State of West Bengal. Other members include the Chief Justice, Kolkata High Court, Mayor, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Principal Secretaries of the Departments of Culture, Finance, Tourism, Higher Education, Accountant General of West Bengal and various other prominent citizens. For better preservation and maintenance of VMH, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (hereinafter called as ‘NEERI’) had given various suggestions in April 1992 but the same remained unattended. In February, 2002 West Bengal Pollution Control Board submitted a report on air quality around the VMH in which it was suggested to make a further study into the matter by Expert Organization like NEERI.

4. Alleging mismanagement, misuse and various types of abuses of the historic museum a

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2010 Supreme(SC) 212

Cases Referred (17)