(A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar, JJ.)
Civil Appeal Nos. 12122-12123 of 2018, decided on October 25, 2021
Municipal Corporation of Gr. Mumbai ________________ Appellant;
v.
Ankita Sinha and Others _________________________ Respondent(s).
With
Civil Appeal No. 86 of 2019
Civil Appeal No. 6273 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6274 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6275 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6276 of 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 6277-6278 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6279 of 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 6280-6281 of 2021
Civil Appeal Nos. 6282 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6283 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6284 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6285 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6286 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 2897 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6262 of 2021
Civil Appeal No. of 2021
(Arising out of SLP(C) No. 13934 of 2021)
Civil Appeal Nos. 12122-12123 of 2018; Civil Appeal No. 86 of 2019; Civil Appeal No. 6273 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6274 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6275 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6276 of 2021; Civil Appeal Nos. 6277-6278 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6279 of 2021; Civil Appeal Nos. 6280-6281 of 2021; Civil Appeal Nos. 6282 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6283 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6284 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6285 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6286 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 2897 of 2021; Civil Appeal No. 6262 of 2021; and Civil Appeal No. of 2021 (Arising out of SLP(C) No. 13934 of 2021)
The Order of the court was delivered by
Order
C.A. Nos. 12122-12123 of 2018 and 86 of 2019
1. The principal issue as to whether the National Green Tribunal (in short “the Tribunal”) can exercise suo motu jurisdiction or initiate suo motu action, has already been answered in the present appeal(s) vide decision reported in 2021 (12) SCALE 184.
2. The other plea of the appellant-Corporation, which remains to be dealt with, is that, the proceedings were pending before the High Court concerning the very issue wherein elaborate mechanism had been directed by the High Court vide order dated 02.04.2013 in Writ Petition (C) No. 1740 of 1998 and connected cases (Annexure-A1) and the High Court is continually monitoring the progress thereof.
3. It is urged that this aspect was brought to the notice of the Tribunal by way of a review petition. However, it appears that the Tribunal has not dealt with this plea specifically in the order passed on 05.12.2018 in the review petition, which is the subject matter of challenge in the present appeals.
4. We permit the appellant to once again move a formal application before the Tribunal and to raise all contentions as may be permissible on facts and in law. The Tribunal may deal with said submissions/objections appropriately and if any part of the decision of the Tribunal is adverse to the appellant, it would be open to the appellant to approach this Court afresh.
5. In other words, we are not dealing with other contentions raised by the appellant in the present appeals but giving liberty to the appellant to approach the Tribunal afresh and raise all contentions as may be permissible in law. The Tribunal may decide that proceeding expeditiously.
6. The direction given by the Tribunal, which has been stayed by this Court, will remain in abeyance till appropriate order is passed on the proposed application to be filed by the appellant before the Tribunal. That application be filed within two weeks from today.
7. The civil appeals are disposed of in the above terms.
8. Pending application, if any, stands disposed of.
C.A. Nos. 6273, 6274, 6275, 6276, 6277-6278, 6279, 6280-6281, 6282, 6283, 6284, 6285, 6286 of 2021 and Civil Appeal @ SLP(C) No. 13934 of 2021
9. Mr. Jaideep Gupta, learned senior counsel submits that there is one more matter arising out of the judgment of the Kerala High Court in which aforesaid common order has been passed, being SLP(C) No. 13934 of 2021. The same is taken on board and heard alongwith connected cases.
10. Leave granted in SLP(C) No. 13934 of 2021.
11. In light of the issue answered by this Court in Civil Appeal Nos. 12122-12123 of 2018 and connected cases titled as “Municipal Corporation of Gr. Mumbai v. Ankita Sinha” reported in 2021 (12) SCALE 184, it would be appropriate to permit the appellant(s) to raise all contentions/objections as may be available and permissible in law before the National Green Tribunal (In short “the Tribunal”) in the first place. The Tribunal may consider those contentions/objections and record reasons for accepting or rejecting the same, so that the appellant(s) if dis-satisfied may have further remedy of appeal(s) before this Court.
12. In other words, all contentions raised in the present appeal(s) on these aspects, including on merits are left open, to be considered by the Tribunal afresh.
13. We say so because the judgment rendered by this Court predicates that even if the Tribunal intends to initiate suo motu action, must give opportunity to the parties likely to be affected before passing any adverse order against them. Viewed thus, the ex-parte preemptory order(s) passed by the Tribunal without giving opportunity to the person(s) likely to be affected by such order(s), be treated as effaced from the record.
14. Keeping that principle in mind, we deem it appropriate to relegate the appellant(s) before the Tribunal with liberty to raise all contentions as may be permissible in law, to be decided by the Tribunal afresh on its own merits.
15. Notably, the decision of the High Court assailed in these appeal(s) also gives that liberty to the appellant(s). However, we expressly grant such liberty to the appellant(s), as aforesaid, in terms of this order.
16. The appellant(s) may, therefore, file a formal application to take up all contentions before the Tribunal which may be considered by the Tribunal afresh on its own merits and in accordance with law, including raised in this appeal(s) and in respect of matters, referred to by the Tribunal in the earlier order. The Tribunal to decide the proposed application expeditiously.
17. Learned counsel for the appellant(s) submits that before the Tribunal finally answers the issues raised by the appellant(s), the Tribunal may consider of issuing appropriate interim order to enable the appellant(s) to give effect to the contract/lease agreement in respect of the project in question. We accede to this prayer.
18. All appellants/applicants or any other interested person are at liberty to approach the Tribunal.
19. The appeals are disposed of in the above terms.
20. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
C.A. Nos. 2897 and 6262 2021
21. The appellants have raised diverse grounds which need not detain us.
22. In light of the judgment rendered in Civil Appeal Nos. 12122-12123 of 2018 titled as “Municipal Corporation of Gr. Mumbai v. Ankita Sinha” and connected cases, reported in 2021 (12) SCALE 184, even these appellants need to be relegated before the Tribunal, where they can file a formal application raising all contentions, as may be permissible in law, to be decided afresh by the Tribunal. For, the appellants were not heard before the Tribunal had passed the subject order(s).
23. As stated in the companion cases listed today, the spirit of judgment of this Court is to make it amply clear that the Tribunal is obliged to hear the party before issuing any adverse directions, which is likely to be directly affected by it, including an action initiated suo motu.
24. Accordingly, we relegate the appellants before the Tribunal to file a formal application and raise all contentions including the grounds taken in the present appeal(s).
25. The Tribunal may consider the said application appropriately and record reasons for accepting or not accepting the grounds urged before it, so that it will be open to the appellants to assail the same before this Court, if required.
26. Nothing more is required to be said in these appeals.
27. All contentions and issues raised in the present appeals are left open, to be decided by the Tribunal afresh.
28. The appeals are disposed of in the above terms.
29. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
Civil Appeal No(s). 12122-12123/2018
Municipal Corporation of Gr. Mumbai ___________________ Appellant
v.
Ankita Sinha & Ors ______________________________ Respondent(s)
([FOR DIRECTION])
WITH
C.A. No. 86/2019 (XVII)
C.A. No. 6273/2021
([FOR DIRECTION]
IA No. 76250/2021 – AMENDMENT OF APPEAL/PETITION/I.A.
IA No. 66635/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 111471/2021 – INTERVENTION APPLICATION
IA No. 71482/2021 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 66630/2021 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 60454/2021 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
IA No. 59582/2021 – PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES
IA No. 71555/2021 – PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)
C.A. No. 6274/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 51526/2021
FOR AMENDMENT OF THE PETITION ON IA 76363/2021
IA No. 76363/2021 – AMENDMENT OF THE PETITION
IA No. 51526/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT)
C.A. No. 6275/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR AMENDMENT OF THE PETITION ON IA 77177/2021
IA No. 77177/2021 – AMENDMENT OF THE PETITION)
C.A. No. 6276/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 61227/2021
IA No. 61227/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT)
C.A. No. 6277-6278/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES ON IA 70827/2021
FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 70828/2021
IA No. 70828/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT
IA No. 70827/2021 – PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)
C.A. No. 6279/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 70079/2021
IA No. 70079/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT)
C.A. No. 6280-6281/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 70708/2021
IA No. 70708/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT)
C.A. No. 6282/2021 (XI-A)
C.A. No. 6283/2021 (XI-A)
C.A. No. 6284/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES ON IA 96991/2021
IA No. 96991/2021 – PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)
C.A. No. 6285/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 100745/2021
FOR PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES ON IA 100747/2021
FOR APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION ON IA 100967/2021
IA No. 100967/2021 – APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION
IA No. 100745/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT
IA No. 100747/2021 – PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)
C.A. No. 6286/2021 (XI-A)
(FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 104426/2021
FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. ON IA 104427/2021
FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT ON IA 104430/2021
IA No. 104430/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 104426/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT
IA No. 104427/2021 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.)
C.A. No. 2897 of 2021
C.A. No. 6262 of 2021
Date : 25-10-2021 These appeals were called on for hearing today.
(Before A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar, JJ.)
For Parties: Mr. Atmaram N.S. Nadkarni, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Ashish Wad, Adv.
Ms. Tamali Wad, Adv.
Mr. Pimple Sharad, Adv.
Ms. Sukriti Jaggi, Adv.
Mr. Sidharth Mahajan, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Rebello Salvador, Adv.
Mr. Arzu Paul, Adv.
Mr. Adiraj Bali, Adv.
M/S. J S Wad And Co, AOR
Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Shivendra Singh, Adv.
Mr. Gopal Sankarnayanan, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Harish Vasudevan, Adv.
Ms. Nishtha Kumar, AOR
Mr. Jaideep Gupta, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Abdullah Naseeh, Adv.
Ms. Meena K.P, Adv.
Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR
Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, Adv.
Mr. Rahul Chitnis, Adv.
Mr. Geo Joseph, Adv.
Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR
Mr. Dhruv Mehta, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Md. Shahid Anwar, AOR
Mr. Satish Solanki, Adv.
Mohd. Naseem Mughal, Adv.
Mr. Naeem Ilyas, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Verma, Adv.
Mr. Yash Pal Dhingra, AOR
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR
Mr. Abhimanue Shrestha, AOR
Mr. Abhilash M.R, Adv.
Mr. Sayooj Mohandas. M, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Singh, AOR
Mr. A. Karthik, AOR
Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
Ms. Usha Nandini. V, AOR
Mr. Bijo Mathew Joy, Adv.
Mr. Manuu Krishnan G, Adv.
Mr. Seshatalpa Sai Bandaru, AOR
Mr. E. M. S. Anam, AOR
Mr. Tahir Ashraf Siddiqui, AOR
Mr. Jogy Scaria, AOR
Ms. Beena Victor, Adv.
Ms. Prirya, Adv.
Mr. Ravi Lomod, Adv.
Mr. K. Parameshwar, AOR
Ms. A. Sregurupriya, Adv.
Mr. Prasad Hegde, Adv.
Mr. Jobi Jose Kondody, Adv.
Mr. Alex M Scaria, Adv.
Mr. Biju Praman, Adv.
Ms. Saritha Thomas, Adv.
Ms. Usha Nandini. V, AOR
Mr. Boby Thomas, Adv.
Mr. K K Vinosh Adv.
Mr. Md Apzal Ansari Adv.
Mr. James P. Thomas, AOR
Mr. V.K. Biju, AOR
Mr. Amlendu Kumar Akhilesh Kumar Jha, Adv.
Mr. Abhay Pratap Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shaji George, Adv.
Ms. Vijay Laxmi, Adv.
Ms. Vijayalakshmi Raju, Adv.
Mrs. Anu B, Adv.
Mrs. Dhanya C., Adv.
Mr. Suvidutt M.s., AOR
Mr. Faisal M. Aboobacker, Adv.
Ms. Lakshmi Sree P, Adv.
Ms. Sadiya Shakeel, Adv.
Mr. Zulfiker Ali P. S, AOR
Mr. Darpan Km. Adv.
Ms. Amrita Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Prakash s Rao, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Jonathan Shaw, Adv.
Ms. Rashi Bansal, AOR
Mr. Purushottam Sharma Tripathi, AOR
Ms. Sanjoli Mehrotra, Adv.
Mr. Aditya, Adv.
Mr. Aakarsh Kamra, AOR
Mr. S. Thananjayan, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
ORDER
30. Leave granted in SLP(C) No. 13934 of 2021.
31. The appeals are disposed of in terms of the signed order.
32. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.
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