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1989 Supreme(All) 324

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
A. N. VERMA, V. K. KHANNA, S. K. MUKHERJEE
KRISHNA UTENSILS, RAMPUR - Appellant
Versus
STATE FINANCIAL CORPN. - Respondents
C. M. W. 20818 Of 1988
Decided On : 07/10/1989

Advocates Appeared:
PRAKASH KRISHNA

The doctrine of occupied field has a great place in the interpretation as to whether or not a particular Legislature is competent to legislate on a particular entry. This means that when the field is completely occupied by List I, as in this case, then the State Legislature is wholly incompetent to legislate and no entrenchment or encroachment, minimal or otherwise, by a State Legislature is permitted.

Headnote:

STATE FINANCIAL CORPORATIONS ACT - SECTION 32-G - VALIDITY - U. P. PUBLIC MONEYS (RECOVERY OF DUES) ACT - VALIDITY - CONFLICT BETWEEN CENTRAL AND STATE LAWS - DOCTRINE OF OCCUPIED FIELD - INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES - LEGISLATIVE INTENT - SCOPE OF RECOVERY OF DUES BY FINANCIAL CORPORATIONS.

Fact of the Case:

The petitioner, a borrower from the U. P. State Financial Corporation, challenged the validity of the recovery proceedings initiated against him under Section 3 of the U. P. Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act, 1972, on the ground that the said Act was rendered void and inoperative by the insertion of Section 32-G in the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951, by the State Financial Corporations (Amendment) Act, 1985.

Finding of the Court:

The Court held that the U. P. Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act was not rendered void and inoperative by the insertion of Section 32-G in the State Financial Corporations Act. The Court found that Section 32-G did not occupy the entire field with respect to the recovery of dues of Financial Corporations as arrears of land revenue and that the State law was not repugnant to the Central law.

Issues: 1. Whether the U. P. Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act was rendered void and inoperative by the insertion of Section 32-G in the State Financial Corporations Act? 2. Whether Section 32-G occupied the entire field with respect to the recovery of dues of Financial Corporations as arrears of land revenue? 3. Whether the State law was repugnant to the Central law?

Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that the U. P. Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act was not rendered void and inoperative by the insertion of Section 32-G in the State Financial Corporations Act because: a) Article 254 of the Constitution of India, which deals with repugnancy between Central and State laws, was not applicable to the present case as the laws in question fell within the exclusive fields of legislation allocated to Parliament and the State Legislature respectively. b) The appropriate provision to be applied was Article 246 of the Constitution, which deals with the distribution of legislative powers between the Centre and the States. c) Section 32-G did not occupy the entire field with respect to the recovery of dues of Financial Corporations as arrears of land revenue, as it expressly stated that the remedy provided under it was "without prejudice to any other mode of recovery". d) The State law was not repugnant to the Central law as there was no conflict or collision between the two, except that the remedy provided under Section 32-G was slightly more circuitous and perhaps time consuming.

Final Decision: The Court dismissed the petition and upheld the validity of the U. P. Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act.

AMARENDRA NATH VERMA, J.

( 1 ) A difference of opinion between two Division Benches of this Court as to the effect of sec. 32-G inserted by the State Financial Corporations (Amendment) Act, 1985 (No. 43 of 1985) in the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951, on the continued validity of the U. P. Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act (hereinafter referred to as thestate Act) in its application to the dues of the U. P. State Financial Corporation, has led to the reference of this case to us.

( 2 ) IN a bunch of (Writ Petns. Nos. 9476 of 1986, 14797 of 1987 and 15437 of 1987) disposed of by a Division Bench of this Court by its judgment dated November 3, 1987, it was held that Section 3 of the State Act was repugnant to Act No. 43 of 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the Central Act) and was, therefore, void and inoperative in its application to the recovery of dues of the U. P. State Financial Corporation. In Messrs. Krishna Utensils v. U. P. State Financial Corporation and others (Writ Petn. No. 20818 of 1988), however, a Division Bench of this Court in its judgment dated September 1, 1988, differed with the earlier Bench decision of this Court and held that there was no repugnancy between the Central Act and the State Act. It ruled that there was really no conflict between the two enactments and that section 32-G was merely complementary to the various modes of recovery already possessed under the State Financial Corporations Act and was not in derogation of the same. It consequently referred the case to a larger Bench for resolving the conflict of views. That is how the matter is before us.

( 3 ) IT may be observed at the outset that both the Division Benches proceeded on the premise that the question had to be judged in the light of Article 254 of the Constitution of India. The learned Judges constituting the two Benches, therefore, concentrated mainly on the issue whether the State Law was repugnant to the Central Law and applied the various tests which have been laid down by their Lordships of the Supreme Court as well as the Federal Court for determining the question of repugnancy between the Central Law and the State Law within the meaning of Article 254 of the Constitution of India. Both the Division Benches have, with great respect, gone wrong in applying Art. 254 of the Constitution of India. The appropriate provision to be applied in the present case, in our opinion, is Article 246 of the Constitution of India. There is a long line of decisions of the Supreme Court as well as the Federal Court ruling that the concept of repugnancy is relevant only where the laws enacted by Parliament and the State Legislature supposed to be in conflict with each other deal with the subjects falling in the Concurrent List, viz. , List III of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. There is a complete unanimity of opinion in the pronouncements of the Supreme Court that there is no question of any repugnancy in respect of State Laws falling in List II and in respect of Central Law covered by List I. In support of this proposition we would content ourselves by referring only to the latest pronouncement on the subject in the case of I. T. C. Ltd. v. State of Karnataka, reported in 1985 (Supp) SCC 476. His Lordship Fazal Ali, J. , speaking for the majority, referred to the decisions of the Supreme Court with approval in the cases reported in AIR 1964 SC 1284 (State of Orissa v. M. A. Tulloch and Co.), AIR 1969 SC 59 (Sudhir Chandra Nawn v. Wealth Tax Officer) and (1969) 3 SCC 838 (Baij Nath Kedia v. State of Bihar) in support of his conclusion that Art. 254 (2) applies only to matters contained in the concurrent List and has nothing to do with matters enumerated in List I or List II. The same view was expressed by his Lordship Mukerji, J. in paragraph 230 of the judgment of page 575. His Lordship summed up the law thus :"the concept of repugnancy arises only with regard to laws dealing with subjects covered by the entries falling in List























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