Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Imc Limited (Formerly Known As United ... vs Union Of India on 21 June, 2022
Bench: C.T. Ravikumar, Sudhanshu Dhulia
1
ITEM NO.16 COURT NO.16 SECTION III
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).10060-10063/2022
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order(s) dated 06-05-2022
in LPA Nos. 1424/2019, LPA No. 1425/2019, LPA No. 1426/2019 & LPA No.
1427/2019 passed by the High Court Of Gujarat At Ahmedabad)
IMC LIMITED (FORMERLY KNOWN AS UNITED STORAGE
TANKS TERMINALS LTD.) & ANR. ETC. Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
(FOR ADMISSION )
WITH
SLP(C) No. 10744/2022 (III) (ITEM NO.16.1)
(FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.85519/2022-EXEMPTION FROM FILING
C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.85518/2022-PERMISSION TO
FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)
SLP(C) No. 10743/2022 (III) (ITEM NO.16.2)
(FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.85514/2022-EXEMPTION FROM FILING
C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.85513/2022-PERMISSION TO
FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)
Date : 21-06-2022 These petitions were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C.T. RAVIKUMAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHANSHU DHULIA
(VACATION BENCH)
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr.Adv.
Mr. Rajshekhar Rao, Sr.Adv.
Ms. Liz Mathew, AOR
Ms. Sonali Mathur, Adv.
Mr. Nooruddin Dhilla, Adv.
Mr. Prabhav Shroff, Adv.
Mr. Asadulla Thangal, Adv.
Mr. Navneet R., Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Ms. Vasudha Jain, Adv.
Digitally signed by
NIRMALA NEGI
Date: 2022.06.28
17:16:04 IST
Reason: Mr. Sudhir Nandrajog, Sr.Adv.
Mr. Lok Pal Singh, Sr.Adv.
Mr. Abhay Kumar, AOR
Mr. Kumar Milind, Adv.
Mr. Shagun Ruhil, Adv.
2
Mr. Divyam Nandrajog, Adv.
For Respondent Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG
no.3 in SLP(C) Mr. K.M.Nataraj, ASG
Nos.10060-10063/2022 Mr. Mihir Joshi, Sr.Adv.
Mr. Dhaval Vyas, Adv.
Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv.
Mr. Ritesh Kumar, AOR
For Respondent No.2 Mr. Mihir Joshi, Sr.Adv.
in SLP(C) Nos.10744 Ms. Aastha Mehta, Adv.
& 10743 of 2022 Mr. Atul Kumar, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
After hearing the learned senior counsel Mr.Mukul Rohatgi, and Mr.Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing for the petitioners and the learned Solicitor General of India Mr.Tushar Mehta, we are of the considered view that certain issues involved beckon a deeper analysis and consideration.
Issue notice to the respondent(s), returnable in six weeks. On the question of interim order viz. stay of the judgment and order(s) dated 06.05.2022 assailed in each of the Special Leave Petitions, we heard the learned counsel appearing for both sides at length.
The learned Solicitor General handed over a chart in regard to the payments to be effected by the petitioners in Special Leave Petition (Civil) No(s).10060-10063/2022, component-wise, the idest actual amount payable in pursuance of the revised tariffs as per the impugned notification and by virtue of the impugned judgment and order(s), interest and penalty payable owing to the non-payment of the actual amount etc. After hearing the learned senior counsel for the petitioners on that issue we proposed to pass an order of stay of the impugned 3 order(s) in Special Leave Petition (Civil) No(s).10060-10063/2022, on condition of payment of the actual amount payable by the petitioners. The learned Solicitor General would submit that the actual amount payable by the petitioners in the first case sans interest and penalty is Rs.1,29,95,48,541.97. Learned senior counsel Mr. Mukul Rohatgi submitted that, it is nothing but miscalculation and in fact the amount payable is only Rs.76 crores.
Learned senior counsel Mr.Mukul Rohatgi would hasten to add that the petitioners are not in a position to make such a deposit at present and in the circumstances, an interim order of stay sought for is not pressed and the Special Leave Petition (Civil) No(s).10060-10063/2022 may be posted for hearing along with the other Special Leave Petitions.
As regards the SLP(C)Nos.10744/2022 and 10743/2022 the position is that the special leave petitions have been filed by the same party which is a multi-unit state Cooperative Society. The learned counsel appearing in the matters would submit that the petitioner Society is prepared to pay the amount actually due from it under the impugned judgment and order(s) less the amount already paid by the Society, based on the revised tariffs. In fact, if the interest and penalty are ultimately held as payable, the amount in respect of the SLP(C)No.10744/2022 would be Rs.74,75,50,431/- and in respect of SLP(C)No.10743/2022 it would be Rs.27,87,09,726/-, as of now, it is submitted by the learned Solicitor General.
In such circumstances, in SLP(C)Nos.10744/2022 and 10743/2022 there will be an interim stay to the effect and operation of the impugned order(s) dated 06.05.2022 passed by the High Court of 4 Gujarat at Ahmedabad qua petitioner(s) in Letter Patent Appeal Nos.1451/2019 and 1450/2019 respectively on the condition that the petitioner-Society shall deposit the actual amount payable under the impugned order(s), less the amount actually paid by it in terms of the revised tariffs, to the Deendayal Port Trust. This shall be done within one month from the date of receipt of copy of this Order.
In respect of the balance amount payable including interest and penalty, the petitioner-Society shall file undertaking in SLP(C)Nos.10744/2022 and in 10743/2022 to the fact that subject to the outcome of these proceedings, it would effect towards the penalty and interest subject to the right to seek to emend mistake, if any, in the quantification.
It is made clear that there will be no interim stay qua the petitioner(s) in SLP(C)Nos.10060-10063/2022.
Let all the matters be posted before the appropriate Bench in the first week of August, 2022.
(NIRMALA NEGI) (VIRENDER SINGH) COURT MASTER (SH) BRANCH OFFICER