Delhi District Court
Indian Trade Promotion Organization vs Indian Business Women Association on 27 July, 2011
IN THE COURT OF SH. RAKESH KUMAR : ADJ03 (C) : DELHI
Suit No.149/11
Unique ID No.02401C0589532005
Indian Trade Promotion Organization,
Registered Office at:
Pragati Bhawan, Pragati Maidan,
New Delhi - 110001.
Through its Authorized Representative
Sh. Tanvir Ahmed. .....Plaintiff.
Versus
1. Indian Business Women Association,
B5/13, AB Apartments, Lane 1, Jhori Farm,
Noor Nagar Extension, New Delhi-110025.
Also at:
Ramghat Colony, Wazirabad Extension,
Delhi - 110094.
2. Mrs. Naseem Bano,
President
Indian Business Women Association,
B5/13, AB Apartments, Lane 1, Jhori Farm,
Noor Nagar Extension, New Delhi-110025.
3. Mrs. Saira Bano @ Saira Jamal
General Secretary,
Indian Business Women Association,
B5/13, AB Apartments, Lane 1, Jhori Farm,
Noor Nagar Extension, New Delhi-110025. .....Defendants.
(Defendant no.3 deleted from the array of
parties vide order dated 21.05.2009)
Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 1 of pages 14
Date of institution of Suit. : 01.07.2005.
Date of arguments. : 27.07.2011.
Date of Judgment. : 27.07.2011.
J U D G M E N T
1. This is a suit filed under Order XXXVII CPC for the recovery of Rs.13,11,308.37ps. (Rs. Thirteen Lakh Eleven Thousand Three Hundred Eight and Paise Thirty Seven Only) alongwith costs, pendentelite and future interest @ 12% per annum till the realization of the decreetal amount.
2. As per plaint, plaintiff is a Govt. of India Organization under the Administrative Control of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and have been for the last many years organizing a world reputed trade fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi under the name and style of "India International Trade Fair". Plaintiff is a company registered under the Companies Act and Sh. Tanvir Ahmed has been duly authorized by the Chairman cum Managing Director of the plaintiff vide resolution dated 03.02.2005 to sign, verify and institute and do all other acts necessary for the proceedings in the present matter. Plaintiff being one of the biggest trade promotion body of the government every year organize a huge trade fair of international repute at Delhi under the name and style of "INDIA INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR" and participants from India and Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 2 of pages 14 abroad approach the plaintiff for booking the space for participation in the trade fair which is held every year. The participation of Indian and Foreign participants in the trade fair is regulated and the space is booked for the participants in the trade fair area in accordance with the rules and regulations as published in booklet of rules and regulations with application form for participation in IITF. The defendant no.2 and defendant no.3, representing themselves as the President and the General Secretary of the defendant no.1, approached the plaintiff before the start of the India International Trade Fair, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as IITF, 2004) and requested for allotment of 603 sq. mts. of space for the participation of defendant no.1 organization in IITF, 2004 vide duly filled application form to which the plaintiff after due consideration vide its letter dated 21.09.2004 accepted the defendant's request and a confirmation was sought from the defendant. The defendant replied back to the communication dated 21.09.2004 of the plaintiff vide letter dated 24.09.2004 and requested for allocation of space in Hall No.5 besides informing about the expected release of grant to the defendant no.1 by the Ministry of Small Scale Industries, Govt. of India. The plaintiff vide its letter dated 30.09.2004 duly informed the defendant as to Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 3 of pages 14 non feasibility of allotment of space in Hall No.5, besides information the defendant as to non availability of seminar space on the date requested by the defendant. Through the said letter, the plaintiff further requested the defendant to forwards the space rent alongwith duly filled application form so that space may be alloted to the defendant during IITF, 2004. Another letter dated 05.10.2004 in the above regard was also issued to the defendant by the plaintiff. It is also averred that acknowledging the receipt of above two letters, the defendant vide its letter dated 04.10.204 requested for time to clear the payments of allotted space and promise to clear the payments to the plaintiff before the end of IITF, 2004. Vide another letter dated 04.10.2001 the plaintiff informed the defendant about the amount of Rs.31,185/ outstanding against the defendant with respect to the participation of the defendant in IITF, 2002. Vide its letter dated 11.10.2004 the defendant again sought allotment of space in Hall No.16 and 18 and the plaintiff vide its letter dated 14.10.2004 replied to the same and requested for the submission of application form alongwith 50% of the space rent amount totaling Rs.20,25,000/. The plaintiff further vide its letter dated 19.10.2004 informed the defendant about the refusal of the Ministry of SSI, Govt. of India to Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 4 of pages 14 subsidize the participation of the defendant in IITF, 2004, and it was reiterated to the defendant that without the payment being made, the space booked for the defendant will be released to others in the waiting list. The defendant vide its letter dated 20.10.2004 sent four cheques of Rs.5 Lakhs each, bearing nos.915561 to 915564 issued by issued by Punjab National Bank, NSIC Bhawan, Okhla Indl. Estate, New Delhi with a promise to clear the amounts within the duration of the Trade Fair. The plaintiff vide letter dated 27.10.2004 sent the lay out plan of the space allotted to the defendant and also returned the above mentioned four cheques issued by the defendant informing the defendant to pay the full rentals totaling Rs.27,13,500/ through Bank Draft in favour of plaintiff. A reminder was also sent to the defendant by the plaintiff vide letter dated 02.11.2004. The defendant vide letter dated 05.11.2004 promised to pay the plaintiff the due amount and informed that the defendant would start paying cash to the plaintiff w.e.f. 10.11.2004 making the entire payment by 20.11.2004. Pursuant to the aforementioned letter, the plaintiff duly informed the defendant that approval letter for the allotment can be issued only upon receipt of the entire payment of Rs.27,13,500/ alongwith service tax @ 10.2% prior to 13.11.2004. Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 5 of pages 14 The said letter was received by Ms. Saira Jamal @ Saira Bano, the General Secretary of the defendant no.1 on 06.11.2004. Subsequent to repeated requests and assurance and promise of payment by the defendant, the plaintiff decided to accept the cheques from the defendant. The defendant vide letter dated 12.11.2004 deposited five cheques of the following denomination with the plaintiff with a promise and assurance that the same will be cleared on presentation and that the dues of plaintiff will be cleared positively before 20.11.2004: S. Cheque Date of Amount Drawn on Bank No. No. Issuance (Rs.) 1 915565 11/11/2004 Rs.3,00,000/ Punjab National Bank, NSIC Bhawan, Okhla Indl. Estate,New Delhi.
2 915566 11/11/2004 Rs.3,00,000/ do 3 915567 11/11/2004 Rs.3,00,000/ do 4 915568 11/11/2004 Rs.3,00,000/ do 5 915569 14/11/2004 Rs.18,00,000/ do Subsequent to the above letter, the defendants were duly handed over the constructed stalls and the participants of the defendant also moved into the said stall on 14.11.2004, the day IITF, 2004 started. Besides taking possession of the said area, the defendant also collected the exhibitor passes meant for the said Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 6 of pages 14 area alloted and taken possession of by the defendant. Each of these Exhibitor passes were valued at Rs.350/. It is also averred that the plaintiff acting on the assurance and promise of the defendant, duly presented the above mentioned cheques for encashment on 14.11.2004, however, to the surprise of the officials of the plaintiff, all the said cheques were returned dishonoured by the above named bankers of defendant with the returning memo dated 17.11.2004 depicting "Insufficient Funds" in the account no.0115388297 of the defendant as the reason for the dishonour of the cheques. The said fact became known to the plaintiff only on 17.11.2004 when the information was received by the plaintiff from its Banker, Central Bank of India, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The defendant seemingly aware of the fact that the plaintiff will present the cheques given for encashment on the due dates submitted a letter dated 13.11.2004 to the plaintiff which was delivered and received at the office of the plaintiff only on 14.11.2004 that too at 6.00 p.m in the evening. Further vide letter dated 16.11.2004, the defendant requested the plaintiff to allot 20 shops only and in this context promised to return the 135 extra passes (Exhibitor passes) to the plaintiff. The plaintiff bonafidely allotted a different space in Hall No.18 to the defendant as per the Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 7 of pages 14 fresh requirement even after 3 days of the start IITF, 2004 with the understanding that the defendant will pay the construction charges for the stalls constructed under the shell scheme for the participants of the defendant. The defendant and the participants enrolled by the defendant duly used the space of 603 sq. mts. allotted by the plaintiff till the evening of 16.11.2004, that is for whole of 3 days after the start of IITF, 2004 and the defendant duly collected money from various participants for booking the space allotted to the defendant by the plaintiff, as is clear from the receipts, photocopies of some of which were handed over to the plaintiff when the aggrieved participants lodged a complaint against the defendant with the Police officials on 27.11.2004. A fresh demand letter was duly sent by the plaintiff raising a demand of Rs.13,11,308.37ps. against the defendant vide letter dated 19.11.2004 with a request to clear the outstanding by 20.11.2004 as was predecided and promised by the defendant. As no response was forthcoming from the end of the defendant, the plaintiff was forced to issue letters dated 23.11.2004 and 24.11.2004 to the defendant demanding the clearance of the promised and agreed dues by the plaintiff. The defendant vide letter dated 20.11.2004 cooked up an entirely new story and stated Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 8 of pages 14 that the defendant was allotted space less than offered and requested, which was clearly contrary to all the previous letters written by the defendant. Soon thereafter the defendant stopped interacting with the plaintiff and whenever the officials of the plaintiff visited the hall occupied by the defendant, they were informed that as defendant no.2 was ill and only she will talk to the plaintiff once she is well. It will be pertinent to mention that all this while the other office bearers of the defendant duly collected payments from the participants brought to the fair by the defendant, however, when it came to clearing the legal dues of the plaintiff and defendant showed their inability and reluctance, matter of fact some of the officials of the officials of the plaintiff were also threatened with implication in false cases by the defendant's representatives present near the hall allotted to the defendant. Constrained by the acts of the defendants, the plaintiff duly wrote a complaint to the Police Officials of PS Tilak Marg, in whose jurisdiction the Trade Fair was being organized and where the plaintiff's has it's Office, informing them about the acts and deeds of the defendants. Acting as per the terms and conditions of the rules and regulations of participation in IITF 2004, the plaintiff constrained by the acts of the defendant was forced to seal the Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 9 of pages 14 premises/space allotted to the defendants on 26.11.2004, however, the same was later on opened on 27.11.2004 after the protests of the participants, who had made the payment to the defendant and upon the intervention of the Police Officials of PS Tilak Marg. Subsequently, the plaintiff again sent a legal notice dated 17.12.2004 to the defendants but for no avail. The defendants clearly from the very beginning had no intention and money to honour the commitments they made to the plaintiff and by making false and frivolous promises which the defendants knew they would not be able to honour, the defendants made the plaintiff to deliver precious space to the defendants during a much sought after international fair IITF, 2004 and the defendants in furtherance of their acts further collected substantial sums of money from the participants they allowed to use the space allocated by the plaintiff, without honouring the commitments, the defendants made to the plaintiff. The defendant no.1 being an organization/NGO with a number of officer bearers, its officials have been carrying out the functions of the organization in the absence of the President (defendant no.2), needless to mention that receipts were being issued and money was being collected by the defendants from the participants till around 22.11.2004. Thus the defendants were Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 10 of pages 14 managing the business from the stall allocated to it for IITF, 2004 through their other functionaries and that none of the defendants came forwards to clear the above mentioned dues as promised. The plaintiff is entitled to a sum of Rs.30,00,000/ on 14.11.2004 as per the terms and conditions published booklet of rules and regulation with application form for participation in IITF, 2004 as also for the reason that the entire space booked by the defendants was handed over to the defendants on 14.11.2004 and the same was used by the defendants and its participants till around 16.11.2004. However, the plaintiff in accordance with the letter/invoice dated 19.11.2004 issued by it is restricting its claim to Rs.13,11,308.37ps. Since the said amount became due and payable by the defendants on 19.11.2004 when the invoice was raised by the plaintiff, the plaintiff is also entitled to interest @ 12% per annum on the said amount. The defendants no.2 & 3 being the office bearers of the defendant no.1 were/are fully responsible for the acts done by them for and on behalf of the defendant no.1 and thus liable to pay the suit amount to the plaintiff. The cause of action firstly arose on 14.11.2004 when the space allotted to the defendants was handed over to them by the plaintiff at the start of the IITF, 2004 and it further arose when the cheques issued by the defendants were Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 11 of pages 14 dishonoured. The cause of action further arose on 19.11.2004 when a fresh invoice was raised by the plaintiff. The cause of action is still subsisting as the defendants have till date not cleared the outstanding amount. This Court has territorial jurisdiction to try and entertain the present suit. The suit has been properly valued for the purpose of court fee and jurisdiction. It is accordingly prayed that a decree for the sum of Rs.13,11,308.37ps. alongwith pendentelite and future interest @ 12% per annum till the realization of the decreetal amount may be passed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants jointly and severally. Cost of the suit is also demanded.
3. In this case summons for appearance in the prescribed format U/o 37 CPC were issued against the defendants and accordingly defendants no.1 & 2 filed their appearance and filed an application for issuance of summons for judgment against the defendants no.1 & 2. Whereas defendant no.3 could not be served with the summons for appearance despite of issuance of process on many occasions and vide order dated 21.05.2009 upon the request of Ld. counsel for the plaintiff, the defendant no.3 was dropped from the array of the parties being a performa party. Summons for judgment in this case were also issued against the defendants no.1 & 2 on Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 12 of pages 14 many occasions but they could not be served and vide order dated 23.07.2009 passed by my Ld. Predecessor, the service of summons for judgment upon the defendants no.1 & 2 was deemed to be served upon the said defendants as the process was issued against the defendants no.1 & 2 on the same address given on their behalf while entering appearance and further they have not provided any other address afterwards. Since despite service of Summons for Judgment, no application for leave to defend the suit has been filed by the defendants no.1 &2 within the stipulated period of time, so the plaintiff is entitled for a decree in its favour and against the defendants no.1 & 2 for the recovery of the amount claimed in the suit i.e. Rs.13,11,308.37ps. (Rs. Thirteen Lakh Eleven Thousand Three Hundred Eight and Paise Thirty Seven Only) alongwith interest @ 8% per annum from the date of filing of the suit till its realization. Cost of the suit is also awarded to the plaintiff. Decree stands passed accordingly.
4. Decree Sheet be prepared.
5. File be consigned to Record Room after completion of necessary formalities.
(Announced in the Court (RAKESH KUMAR)
today on 27.07.2011) ADDL. DISTRICT JUDGE03 (C)
DELHI
Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 13 of pages 14 Suit No.149/11 Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors.
27.07.2011
Present: Ld. counsels for plaintiff.
None for defendants.
In this case since despite service of Summons for
Judgment, no application for leave to defend the suit has been filed by the defendants no.1 &2 within the stipulated period of time, so the plaintiff is entitled for a decree in its favour and against the defendants no.1 & 2.
Arguments heard.
Put up at 4.00 p.m for orders.
(RAKESH KUMAR)
ADJ03 (C)/DELHI/27.07.2011
27.07.2011 (at 4.00 p.m)
Present: As before.
Vide a separate judgment, suit of the plaintiff is decreed. Decree Sheet be prepared.
File be consigned to Record Room after completion of necessary formalities.
(RAKESH KUMAR) ADJ03 (C)/DELHI/27.07.2011 Indian Trade Promotion Org. Vs. Indian Business Women Asso. & Ors. (Suit No.149/11) Page No. 14 of pages 14