IMPORTANT POINT
The court emphasized the necessity of adhering to principles of natural justice, mandating that parties affected by administrative decisions must be afforded an opportunity to be heard.

JUDGMENT :

Ramesh Sinha, CJ.

1.Since both the appeals arise out of the order dated 09.05.2024 passed by a learned Single Judge in WPC No. 2989/2021, they are being considered and decided by this common judgment.

2.WA No. 448/2024 has been filed by the appellant-Union of India which is represented through Ministry of Railways and WA No. 432/2024 has been filed by M/s. Shree Cement Ltd. who was respondent No. 5 in WPC No. 2989/2021. Ultratech Cement Ltd. was the writ petitioner in WPC No. 2989/2021, which had sought quashing of the In Principle Approval (for short, the IPA) dated 08.04.2021 and any other permission or approval to further process application made by appellant-M/s. Shree Cement Ltd. being dated 09.02.2021 granted by the respondent-Senior Divisional Operation Manager, for the purported Greenfield PFT under the 2020 PFT policy including any permission or approval granted by by the South East Central Railway for use of Hathband Private Siding, as being arbitrary and illegal.

3.There is a delay of 5 days in filing WA No. 448/2024 for which IA No. 1 of 2024 has been filed. For the reasons stated therein, delay is condoned.

4.The learned Single Judge, after hearing the parties at length, allowed the petition and quashed the IPA dated 08.04.2021 granted in favour of M/s. Shree Cement Ltd., however, liberty was also granted to the respondents No. 3 and 4/Railways to consider the application moved by the appellant-M/s. Shree Cement Ltd. for setting up Greenfield PFT and for grant of IPA afresh, after affording due opportunity of hearing to the Ultratech Cement Ltd.

5.The facts, in brief, are that the appellant-M/s. Shree Cement Ltd. is a company engaged in the business of mining of limestone and manufacture of cement. One of its cement plants is located at village Khapradih, Tehsil Simga, District Baloda Bazar Bhatapara. At present, the appellant-M/s. Shree Cement Ltd. transports cement from its plant by road for approximately 25 KMs to the Hathband Railway siding, Raipur Division of the Respondent No. 4 South East Central Railways (SECR), from where its cement is transported across the country through railways. Ultratech Cement Ltd. is also a company also engaged in the business of manufacture of cement. Sometime in the year 2000, it constructed two private railway sidings, connecting the main railway Howrah- Mumbai railway line to its cement manufacturing plants at Hirmi and Rawan in District Baloda Bazar - Bhatapara, which takes off at the Hathband Railway Station with a single line of railway track laid down by Ultratech Cement Ltd. These two private sidings are governed by Private Siding Agreements (for short, PSA) dated 01.02.2008 and 10.08.2010 respectively entered between the Railway Administration and Ultratech Cement Ltd. The terms of the agreements would show that the Railway Administration has the overriding right of control and supervision of the use of the private siding of Ultratech Cement Ltd.

6.The private siding of Ultratech Cement Ltd. consists of more than 17 KMs of railway track connecting its factory premises at Hirmi and Rawan with the Hathband Railway Station on the Indian Railway network. The real value of the private siding lies in the connectivity to the Railways Network and the access that it provides to the 1.08 lakh KMs of Indian Railways Rail network spreading across the length and the breadth of the country. Ultratech Cement Ltd., in its income tax appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal concerning this very private siding at Hirmi in M/s. Ultratech Cement Ltd. v. ACIT-2 Mumbai {2017 SCC OnLine ITAT 52 paragraph para.12} admitted the benefit (characterized as a profit) that it (as an assessee) receives as a private siding owner as follows: that by way of such operation of rail systems, it has been able to save the expenses for loading lat those plants) into the trucks, road freight and expenses for unloading and loading the same at the site of nearest Indian railways and that resulted into