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High Court Of Delhi
DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY - Appellant
Versus
PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK - Respondent
CRIMINAL APPEAL 421 of 1976
Decided On : 10/29/1980
DELHI DEVELOPMENT ACT, 1957 - SECTION 29(2) - PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK - BRANCH OFFICE IN RESIDENTIAL AREA - COMPLAINT BY DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY - VALIDITY - LIMITATION - SECTION 378(5), CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1973 - LIABILITY OF BRANCH MANAGER - SECTION 32, DELHI DEVELOPMENT ACT, 1957 - LIABILITY OF BANK - FAILURE OF JUSTICE - REMAND.
Fact of the Case:
The Punjab National Bank opened a branch office in a residential area in Delhi, in contravention of the Delhi Development Plan. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) filed a complaint against the Bank and its branch manager under section 29(2) of the Delhi Development Act, 1957. The Magistrate convicted both the accused, but the Additional Sessions Judge acquitted them on appeal. The DDA appealed to the High Court.
Finding of the Court:
1. The complaint was validly instituted by the DDA, as it had the authority to launch prosecutions under section 49 of the Act. The resolution passed by the DDA on January 15, 1958, authorizing the Secretary to institute legal proceedings on its behalf, was valid. The Secretary was acting as a representative of the DDA, and not in his personal capacity. 2. The appeal was barred by limitation, as it was filed more than 60 days after the order of acquittal. The DDA was the complainant in the case, and not the Secretary, who was a public servant. Therefore, the period of limitation was 60 days, and not six months. 3. The branch manager was not liable for the offence, as he was not in charge of the management of the company. The Board of Directors of the Bank was responsible for the management and control of the business of the company, and they were the ones who took the decision to open the branch in the residential area. 4. The Bank was liable for the offence, as the Board of Directors, who were the controlling officers of the company, had taken the decision to open the branch in the residential area. However, the Bank could not be held criminally responsible unless it was duly served with the summons and properly tried. In this case, the Bank was never served with the summons, and therefore, there was no proper trial in so far as the Bank was concerned.
Issues: 1. Whether the complaint was validly instituted by the DDA. 2. Whether the appeal was barred by limitation. 3. Whether the branch manager was liable for the offence. 4. Whether the Bank was liable for the offence.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The DDA had the authority to launch prosecutions under section 49 of the Act. The resolution passed by the DDA on January 15, 1958, authorizing the Secretary to institute legal proceedings on its behalf, was valid. The Secretary was acting as a representative of the DDA, and not in his personal capacity. 2. The DDA was the complainant in the case, and not the Secretary, who was a public servant. Therefore, the period of limitation was 60 days, and not six months. 3. The branch manager was not in charge of the management of the company. The Board of Directors of the Bank was responsible for the management and control of the business of the company, and they were the ones who took the decision to open the branch in the residential area. 4. The Bank was liable for the offence, as the Board of Directors, who were the controlling officers of the company, had taken the decision to open the branch in the residential area.
Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed on the ground of limitation. However, the court observed that there had been a failure of justice in so far as the Bank was concerned, as it was never served with the summons and properly tried. The court would have remanded the case to the trial court for proceeding with it in accordance with law after serving the main accused, Punjab National Bank, Parliament Street, New Delhi, but for the bar of limitation.
( 1 ) WHORE there is no vision, the people perish. (Bible O. T. XXIX : 18 ). In 1957 the Parliament passed the Delhi Development Act (the Act ). It came into force on December 30, 1957. The Act set up a corporate body known as the Delhi Development Authority (D. D. A.) to ensure planned development of this fast expanding city of Delhi. The object of D. D. A. is "to promote and secure development of Delhi according to plan" (s. 6 ). The Act required D. D. A. to carry out, as soon as may be, a civic survey and to prepare a Master Plan for Delhi (the Plan ). The civic survey was carried out. The Plan was prepared. It came into force on September 1,1962. The Plan, the Act says, shall serve as "a basic pattern of framework" within which the proper development of Delhi in to be carried out. An image of the future is the core of this Plan. The planners are trying to express the vision in terms of recognisable subject matter. They vision what was once a tiny town as the future metropolis.
( 2 ) THE Plan aims a. t a modern planned capital. Delhi should be beautifully planned and admirably built. It should be a model of urban development. Slums should be cleared, parks established, sanitation and health made a civic concern. In short Delhi should be a matter of civic pride. These are the aims of the planners and developers.
( 3 ) THE. Plan is based on the concept of land use. It relates residential needs to commercial, industrial and public needs. The Plan has a ruling conception and design. Its main object is to place limitations on the use of the land and buildings. It prescribes a "land use". The city has been divided into a number of "use zones" such as residential, commercial, industrial, recreational etc. Land is a subject of regulation and control in terms of the Plan.
( 4 ) ACTUATED by a real sense of civic and social responsibility the planners have envisioned Delhi as it ought to be. The blue print does not plan only for the immediate. Furtive moment is not its chief concern. It has an eye on the future community needs. The Plan looks ahead as far as practicable, anticipates change and provides for it, It is claimed by its authors that the Plan combines realism with vision. In other words the fabric of the biblical vision is the Plan. The Plan thus is atonce a programme and a prophocy for the orderly development of the city. It is an essay in town planning. The control of the land and its development in and around Delhi is the subject of this essay. It deals with the use. the misuse and non-use of land planning controls. It is also a commentary on the turmoil and torment in which that control increasingly finds itself today. Tills case is an excellent illustration of these trends and tendencies.
( 5 ) THE facts :the Punjab National Bank (the Bank) is one of the nationalised banking companies under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (the Banking Companies Act ). Its head office is in Parliament Street. In 1973 it opened a branch at Babar Road. Bengali Market, New Delhi to serve the needs of local residents. Mr. A. N. Mehta was appointed manager of the branch.
( 6 ) AN inspector of the D. D. A. on his daily round noticed that a branch of the Bank had been opened in an area which in the Plan had been earmarked for purely residential purposes. He reported to the D. D. A. on February 16, 1973 that the opening of a commercial bank was in direct contravention of the Plan.
( 7 ) ON October 22. 1973 the D. D. A. lodged a criminal complaint in the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate under section 29 (2) read with section 14 of the Act against (1) Shri A. N. Mehta, Manager, Punjab National Bank, 51, Babar Road, Bengali Market. New Delhi : and (2) Punjab National Bank, Parliament Street, New Delhi through its Chairman. The gist of the complaint was that the Bank was housed in building No. 51, Babar Road, Bengali Market, New Delhi in contravention of the Plan and was guil
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