Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Kerala State Sports Council vs Attingal Amateur Athletic Association on 22 September, 2021
Bench: Hemant Gupta, V. Ramasubramanian
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 5900 OF 2021
[@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 27943 OF 2018]
KERALA STATE SPORTS COUNCIL Appellant(s)
VERSUS
ATTINGAL AMATEUR ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION & ORS. Respondent(s)
O R D E R
Leave granted.
The challenge in the present appeal is to an order dated 24.07.2018 passed by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in AS No. 287 of 1998, whereby the appeal filed by the defendant was remanded to the trial court to implead the State of Kerala for deciding the issue as to what extent Section 17(2) of The Sreepadam Lands Enfranchisement Act, 1969 (in short, “the Act”) is applicable to the land in question.
The Office Report dated 26.11.2019 indicates that notice has been served on the respondents. Since no one had entered the appearance on behalf of the respondents, notice was directed to be served to the learned counsel who had entered appearance on behalf Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by Jayant Kumar Arora Date: 2021.09.28 of Respondent No. 1 in Original Suit No. 206 of 1989 16:32:25 IST Reason: on 14.01.2020. In pursuance of such order, counsel for the appellant had taken notice to serve upon the 2 counsel who appeared for Respondent No. 1 before the High Court. The Advocate representing the Respondent No. 1 before the High Court stated that papers had been returned to Respondent No. 1 and he had no instructions to appear in the matter. An affidavit dated 06.09.2021 to this effect has been filed on behalf of the appellant.
In view of the said fact, we are satisfied that Respondent No. 1 stands served and is not appearing before this Court and, thus, the matter is proceeded ex-parte.
Heard learned counsel for the appellant at length.
We find that two questions of law arise for consideration in the appeal before the High Court on the facts already on record, one, as to whether the land is covered under the Act and second, as to whether the State of Kerala is a necessary and proper party in the case. Therefore, instead of remanding the matter to the trial court, the High Court should have decided the first appeal in accordance with law after hearing the learned counsel for the parties on the basis of evidence already on record. Accordingly, the impugned Judgment of the High Court is set aside and AS No. 287 of 1998 is ordered to be restored on the file of the High Court. The High 3 Court to decide the same in accordance with law. Since the suit was filed way back in the year 1998, we hope that the High Court will take up the matter at an early date. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Pending interlocutory application(s), if any, is/are disposed of.
.......................J. [ HEMANT GUPTA ] .......................J. [ V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN ] New Delhi;
SEPTEMBER 22, 2021.
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ITEM NO.10 Court 11 (Video Conferencing) SECTION XI-A
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). 27943/2018
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 24-07-2018 in AS No. 287/1998 passed by the High Court Of Kerala At Ernakulam) KERALA STATE SPORTS COUNCIL Petitioner(s) VERSUS ATTINGAL AMATEUR ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION & ORS. Respondent(s) (IA No. 41612/2019 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/ FACTS/ANNEXURES) Date : 22-09-2021 This matter was called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN For Petitioner(s) Mr. Vipin Nair, AOR Mr. P. B. Suresh, Adv.
Mr. Karthik Jayashankar, Adv.
Mr. Arindam Ghosh, Adv.
Mr. Anshuman Bahadur, Adv.
Mr. Prakash Baghel, Adv.
For Respondent(s) UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R Leave granted.
The appeal is disposed of in terms of the signed order. Pending interlocutory application(s), if any, is/are disposed of.
(JAYANT KUMAR ARORA) (RENU BALA GAMBHIR) COURT MASTER COURT MASTER
(Signed order is placed on the file)