Delhi High Court - Orders
M/S Good Luck Capital Pvt Ltd vs M/S Shivom Minerals Limited & Others on 25 February, 2020
Author: Mukta Gupta
Bench: Mukta Gupta
$~2
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 23/2017
M/S GOOD LUCK CAPITAL PVT LTD ..... Plaintiff
Represented by: Mr.Ashish Pratap Singh, Advocate.
versus
M/S SHIVOM MINERALS LIMITED & OTHERS..... Defendants
Represented by: Mr.Kuljeet Rawal, Advocate.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MUKTA GUPTA
ORDER
% 25.02.2020 CS(COMM) 23/2017
1. By the present suit, the plaintiff had inter alia sought a decree of recovery for a sum of ₹17,57,38,801/- only along with interest pendente lite and future from the defendants jointly and severally.
2. Plaintiff in the suit had impleaded Shivom Minerals Limited as defendant No.1, Vikash Gupta as defendant No.2, Akash Gupta as defendant No.3, Rajender Prasad Gupta as defendant No.4, Ramesh Mehta as defendant No.5, Unicon Merchants Pvt. Ltd. as defendant No.6, Pooja Sponges Pvt. Ltd. as defendant No.7, Kavit Kumar Aggarwal as defendant No.8, Vivek Kumar Aggarwal as defendant No.9, Arun Aggarwal as defendant No.10, M/s Shree Ganesh Enterprises as defendant No.11, Saket Khaitan as defendant No.12, M/s S.M.Agro Industries as defendant No.13, Ram Avtar Joshi @ Ram Avtar Sharma as defendant No.14, Urmila Devi as defendant No.15, Shree Ganpati Enterprises as defendant No.16, Kiran Devi Khaitan as defendant No.17, Bajrang Engineers Pvt. Ltd. as defendant No.18 and Babloo Kumar Sah as defendant No.19.
CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 1 of 83. During the pendency of present suit the parties have entered into a settlement before the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre vide settlement agreement dated 20th February, 2020, copy whereof has been placed on record wherein the plaintiff is treated as first party and all the defendants collectively as second party. The parties have entered into the settlement on the following terms and conditions as under:
(i) Both parties have agreed to withdraw all civil and criminal cases filed against each other which are indicated herein above. The First Party has agreed to withdraw all civil and criminal cases filed and pending by First Party before various courts of law against Second Party. The Second Party has agreed to withdraw all civil and criminal cases filed and pending before Court at Odisha. Both parties also agreed to cooperate with each other for quashing of the FIR No. 451/2014 at Delhi and FIR No.66/2014 & FIR No. 67/2014 at Orissa and all consequent proceedings arising there from.
(ii) The First Party and Second Party have further agreed to withdraw all complaints/any other grievances filed before any authority against each other during the course of subject dispute.
(iii) That the Second Party offers and undertakes to jointly and severally pay an amount of Rs. 4,00,00,000/- (Rupees Four Crores Only) to the First Party in the manner provided herein below as full and final settlement towards the settlement of all disputes and differences arising between the parties pertaining to the subject business transactions against the alleged liability.
The First Party agrees and accepts the same.
(iv) That out of the total agreed amount of Rs. 4,00,00,000/-
(Rupees Four Crores Only), M/s. Shivom Minerals Ltd. of Second Party has already made provisional payment of Rs. 100 Lakhs to the First Party in terms of the direction of Delhi High Court in legal proceedings pertaining to the subject disputes. Now, the Second Party has agreed to pay balance amount of CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 2 of 8 Rs. 300 Lakhs towards full and final settlement to resolve all disputes including the interest and legal expenses, irrespective of any earlier liability in two installments. First Party has accepted the same irrespective of its earlier claim. Both parties shall not raise any further claim on the disputed transactions in future. The breakup of two installments of Rs. 300.0 lakhs payable by individual Company/Firm amongst the Second Party to the First Party is as follows:
COMPANY WISE BREAKUP OF PAYMENT TO BE DONE TO FIRST PARTY Amount Rs. In Lakhs SL. Party's Name Instalment-1 Instalment-2 Total No.
1. Shivom Minerals Limited 50.0 80.0 130.0
2. Pooja Sponge Pvt Limited 20.0 50.0 70.0 3 Bajrang Engineers Pvt 15.0 35.0 50.0 Limited 4 S.M. Agro Industries 15.0 35.0 50.0 Total 100.0 200.0 300.0 Note: Two installments are segregated in terms of clause (xi), (xii) &(xvi) of the present Settlement Agreement.
(v) The Second Party undertakes to withdraw their Civil Suits against the First Party pending before the Civil Judge (Senior Division) Rourkela, Orissa as mentioned in Table 2 above for rendition of accounts within 15days' of the signing of the present Settlement Agreement.
(vi) That the First Party agrees to file withdrawal petitions/applications for the cases as mentioned at Serial No. 2, 3 and 4 of Table 1 by filing the mutually agreed petition/application for withdrawal within 15 days from the date of signing of the present Settlement Agreement.
CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 3 of 8(vii) That the First Party undertakes to withdraw the Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 9806/2019 titled as "Sunil Kumar Garg versus Akash Gupta & Ors.", filed by the First Party, challenging the order dated 30.05.2019 passed by Hon'ble High Court of Allahabad in Crl. M.C. No. 17448/2018, thereby quashing the Criminal Complaint No. 2750/2015 with respect to FIR-365/2014 under Section 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, pertaining to the dispute arising out of the subject transaction, filed by the First Party against the Second Party.
(viii) That the First Party also undertakes to withdraw the Criminal Revision Nos. 346/2019 & 347/2019 filed against orders dated 13.08.2019 passed by Ld. CMM Ghaziabad in Criminal case no. 1317/2014 and 1316/2014 with respect to FIR-1213/2013 & 1214/2013under Section 420, 406 and 506 IPC which pertains to the dispute arising out of the subject transaction, filed by the First Party against the Second Party pending before the Additional District Judge Court-10 at Ghaziabad.
(ix) The First Party also undertakes to withdraw the Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 11724/19, Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 11499/2019, Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 109/2020, Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 110/2020, Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 1150/19 and SLP Crl. No. 11498/19 filed against the order dated 17.07.2019 passed by Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in Crl. M.C. Nos. 4969/2018, Crl. M.C. No. 4980/2019, Crl. M.C. No. 4981/2019, Crl. M.C. No. 4982/2019, Crl. M.C. No. 4983/2019 and Crl. M.C. No. 4984/2019, thereby quashing the complaints filed by First Party under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act.
(x) The First Party informs that the Civil Writ Petition bearing No. 11884/2019 filed at Orissa High Court pertaining to the dispute arising out of the subject transaction, by the First Party stands disposed off vide order dated 06.02.2020 of the concerned High Court.
CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 4 of 8(xi) That Second Party shall pay Rs 100.0 lakhs in favour of First Party within 15 days' of the withdrawal orders by the respective Courts of the cases as mentioned in so far as item no. 2 to 4 of Table 1. The payment time for withdrawal of item no. 2 to 4 of Table 1 shall commence from the last order among the cases as mentioned hereinabove in clause (vi) to Clause
(ix).
(xii) In case the withdrawal petition filed by the FIRST Party are not listed within 30 days of filing as indicated in clause (xi), the Second Party agrees and undertakes to release 50% of the agreed amount i.e. Rs. 50 lacs as an advance payment to the First Party and the same will be paid proportionate to their shares of the respective parties of the Second Party in terms of break-up given hereinabove. It is agreed by the Second Party that the balance 50% of the 1st Installment shall be paid within 15 days in terms of clause (xi).
(xiii) That the First Party undertakes to fully cooperate and appear before the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi for quashing the Charge-sheet filed under Section 406/420/467/468/471/120-B in FIR No. 451/2014 P.S. Preet Vihar/EOW, Delhi as referred at Item No. 6 Table 1 and shall execute all necessary documents, affidavits, appear and make statements before the Court during the course of hearing supporting the quashing of FIR/Charge-sheet.
(xiv) That after resolving the differences the First Party shall take appropriate steps to withdraw allegations against Mr. R. P. Gupta in FIR-451/2014 and ensure that the ongoing proceedings by Investigating Officer against him are dropped.
(xv) The Second Party undertakes to pay the balance amount of Rs.
200.0 lakhs to First Party at the time of quashing of the FIR No. 451/2014. It is agreed that all the aforesaid payments to be made by the Second Party to the First Party shall be by way of RTGS/Demand Draft/Pay Order/Bankers Cheque.
(xvi) It is agreed and undertaken by the Second Party that in the event of any failure on the part of the Second Party to pay the CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 5 of 8 amount/installments as agreed by way of the present Settlement Agreement, the Second Party will be liable to pay to the First Party an interest @ 12% p.a. on the outstanding amount till the date of actual payment and the First Party will also free to enforce its rights as available under the law.
(xvii) That M/s. Shivom Minerals Ltd. of the Second Party undertakes to cooperate for closing/quashing of Charge sheet filed in FIR 66/2014 under Section 406, 511 and 34 IPC and in FIR 67/2014 under Section 418, 420 and 34 IPC lodged before P.S. Raghunathpalli, Rourkela and against all accused persons, i.e. directors of the First Party and shall execute all necessary documents, affidavits, appear and make statements before the Court during the course of hearing supporting the quashing of FIR.
(xviii) That the parties hereby agree that all/any dispute accrued out of the subject transactions stands resolved and further undertake that they shall not raise any claim/litigate against each other in future qua the above-mentioned business transaction or any cause of action arising therefrom.
(xix) Furthermore, upon the settlement terms agreed within this Settlement Agreement, the Parties would have entirely and exhaustively settled all their differences on a binding basis after the execution of this Settlement Agreement and performance of the respective obligations by the Parties. Parties agree that there remain no issues between parties anymore.
(xx) That no variation of this deed shall be effective unless made in writing and signed by the parties. Unless expressly agreed, no variation shall constitute a general waiver of any provision of this deed nor shall it affect any rights, obligations or liabilities under or pursuant to this deed and the rights and obligations of each party under or pursuant to this deed shall remain in full force and effect, except and only to the extent that they are so varied.
(xxi) That both the parties have mutually agreed to above terms and conditions of the settlement agreement and it is undertaken by CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 6 of 8 both of them that no dispute against the subject transaction survives henceforth.
(xxii) It is agreed between the parties that both the parties are at liberty to file the present Settlement Agreement before the concerned authorities/respective courts and to make the respective statements in the court of law as mentioned above and the same shall be endorsed by the other party and shall cooperate with each other in all respects.
(xxiii) The parties also undertake that they will abide by all the terms of the present Settlement Agreement and shall not violate any of the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement. In case any of the party to this Settlement Agreement fails to honour the terms and conditions of the present Settlement Agreement, the aggrieved party is entitled to take legal recourse or otherwise permissible proceedings against the defaulting party.
(xxiv) The parties shall jointly request the Hon'ble Court on the next date fixed i.e. on 25.02.2020 to accept the aforementioned undertakings of the First Party and Second Party and dispose off the present suit pertaining to the dispute arising out of the subject business transaction, filed by the First Party against the Second Party pending before Hon'ble Delhi High Court in terms of the present Settlement Agreement.
(xxv) The Parties may also pray to the Hon'ble Court for the refund of the court fees to the Plaintiff under the provisions of Section 16 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 read with Section 89 CPC 1908.
4. Learned counsel for the plaintiff states that out of the settled amount of ₹4 crores, ₹1 crore has already been received by the plaintiff and the balance amount of ₹3 crores will be received as per the payment schedule.
5. Learned counsel for defendants states that the defendants would abide by the terms of settlement by making the payments as per the schedule.
6. The settlement agreement is duly signed by Mr.Sunil Kumar Garg, authorised representative of the plaintiff, authorisation in whose favour is CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 7 of 8 annexed with the settlement agreement and by Mr.Akash Gupta on his behalf and on behalf of M/s Shivom Minerals Limited, Mr.Vikash Gupta and Mr.Ramesh Mehta; by Mr.Rajendra Prasad Gupta on his behalf and on behalf of M/s Unicon Merchants Pvt. Ltd.; by Mr.Arun Agarwal on his behalf and on behalf of M/s Pooja Sponge Pvt. Ltd., Mr.Kavit Kumar Aggarwal and Mr.Vivek Kumar Aggarwal; by Mr.Shankar Lal Khaitan on behalf of M/s Shree Ganesh Enterprises, Mr.Saket Khaitan, Sri Ganpati Enterprises and Mrs. Kiran Devi Khaitan; by Mr.Ram Avtar Joshi @ Ram Avtar Sharma on his behalf and on behalf of M/s S.M. Agro Industries and Mrs. Urmila Devi and by Mr.Babloo Kumar Sah on his behalf and on behalf of M/s Bajrang Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Necessary authorisations in favour of the signatories are enclosed with the settlement agreement.
7. Suit is accordingly decreed in terms of the settlement as noted above.
8. Decree sheet will incorporate the terms of settlement.
9. Court fee be returned to the authorised representative of the plaintiff under Section 16 of the Court Fees Act.
10. Registry will issue necessary certificate in this regard. I.A. 6265/2019 (under Order XI Rule 1(5) CPC-by plaintiff), I.A. 11339/2019 (under Order XI Rule 1(5) CPC-by defendant Nos.1 to 11, 13 to 15, 17 to 19, 21, 22 and 24), I.A. 11340/2019 (under Order VII Rule 10 CPC-by defendant Nos.1 to 11, 13 to 15, 17 to 19, 21, 22 and 24), I.A. 14707/2019 (under Order XI Rule 1 (5) CPC- by defendant Nos.1 to 11, 13 to 15, 17 to 19, 21, 22 and 24) Applications are disposed of as infructuous.
MUKTA GUPTA, J.
FEBRUARY 25, 2020/'vn' CS(COMM) 23/2017 Page 8 of 8