Delhi High Court - Orders
Kuber Planters & Anr vs Govt Of Nct Of Delhi & Ors on 12 October, 2023
Author: Manmohan
Bench: Manmohan
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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 12643/2023 & C.M.Nos.49864-49865/2023, 53187/2023
KUBER PLANTERS & ANR. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr.Vikas Pahwa, Sr.Adv. with
Mr.Asim, Ms.Cherry Gupta,
Mohd.Haaris and Mr.Hriday,
Advocates.
versus
GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr.Anupam Srivastava, ASC with
Mr.Deepak Jain, Advocate for R-1.
Mr.Virender Pratap Singh Charak,
with Ms.Shubhra Parashar,
Mr.Pushpender Singh Charak, Advs.
for R-2.
Ms.Rashmi Chopra with Ms.Eiza
Chopra and Mr.Puneet Rathi, Advs.
for R-3.
Mr.Ashish Aggarwal, Adv. for R-4.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANMOHAN
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MINI PUSHKARNA
ORDER
% 12.10.2023
1. Present writ petition has been filed seeking issuance of writ or order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the Respondents to clarify the scope of the impugned order dated 13th June, 2023 issued by Respondent No. 3 whereby all pending matters under SEBI Act, SCRA and the Depositories Act, 1996 in the Court of ASJ-05, Patiala House Courts were This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 17:40:53 transferred to the Court of ASJ-03, South West District, Dwarka Court, irrespective of the stage at which the matter was pending.
2. Learned senior counsel for the Petitioners submits that the impugned order ignores to address the issue where judgment had been reserved, and therefore the present writ petition has been filed seeking clarity as to whether the same will be taken up by the special designated Court or by the same concerned Court where the final arguments had been concluded and the judgement had been reserved by the learned Trial Court.
3. Learned senior counsel for the Petitioner states that his matter pertains to the year 2001 and the trial took twenty two years to complete. He states that when the matter was finally concluded and the judgment reserved by the learned Trial Court, the matter got transferred. He contends that on account of transfer, both the parties will have to make arguments afresh which will consume substantial time, energy and litigation cost and the same will cause grave prejudice to the parties and will tantamount to failure of justice. He prays that this Court may exercise its power under Section 407 Cr.P.C. and transfer the matter to the same learned Judge who had reserved the judgment.
4. This Court finds that a request had been received from the Ministry of Finance, Government of India to designate a single Court as the Special Court in the State of Delhi for the purpose of speedy trial of offences under SEBI Act. Not only the said request was accepted, but it was also directed on the administrative side that on issuance of the notification, all cases pending in other districts shall stand transferred to the designated Court. Consequently, there is no ambiguity or doubt which requires any clarification.
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 17:40:53
5. Further, as the matters have been transferred to a designated Court, this Court is not inclined to exercise its power of transfer under Section 407 Cr.P.C.
6. Moreover, by virtue of the order dated 25th September, 2023, this Court had directed the Registry to find out on the administrative side as to why the judgment had not been pronounced within six months after arguments had concluded in December, 2022.
7. The concerned ASJ-01, Shahdara has given a detailed explanation on the administrative side. After perusing the said explanation, this Court is of the view that there were valid reasons for not pronouncing the judgment within the stipulated period of six months. Accordingly, the said explanation is accepted.
8. However, keeping in view the facts and circumstance of the present case, this Court directs the designated Court to expedite the hearing and disposal of the case preferably within six months. With the aforesaid direction, the present writ petition stands disposed of.
MANMOHAN, J MINI PUSHKARNA, J OCTOBER 12, 2023 TS This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 17:40:53