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Showing contexts for: contemnor in Delhi Development Authority vs Skipper Construction Company(P) Ltd. & ... on 6 May, 1996Matching Fragments
(8) The attachment of the properties and the bank accounts shall stand raised on the contemners furnishing the bank guarantee as aforesaid.
(9) The order with regard to the disbursal of the amount deposited will be passed after the amounts are deposited as aforesaid."
The contemnors deposited a sum of Rupees two crores but failed to deposit the balance. They also failed to furnish the Bank guarantee. As a result of the said failure, they were committed to prison. Both the contemnors have served out their sentence.
S/Sri V.A.Bobde and Dushyant Dave, appearing for the claimants [post-January 29, 1991 purchasers] and Sri Arun Jaitley for the D.D.A. submitted that undergoing the sentence of imprisonment by Tejwant Singh and his wife Surinder Kaur does not erase their obligation to pay back the amounts to the said claimants whom they had deliberately and fraudulently induced into parting with substantial amounts in clear and direct violation of the orders of this Court. They submitted that the order of attachment of the properties of Tejwant Singh and his wife and children was an order independent from the order of punishment imposing sentence of imprisonment and that the attachment was meant for realizing amounts necessary for reimbursing the persons defrauded. The attached properties should now be sold and the proceedings therefrom utilised for paying the post- January 29, 1991 claimants, it is submitted. Sri Arun Jaitley further submitted that the claim of the pre-January 29, 1991 purchasers for interest on the amounts paid by them is still there and has to be kept in mind while passing orders in these applications. It is submitted that the contemnors should not be allowed to keep or enjoy the fruits of their contempt and that until all the persons defrauded by Skipper are fully re-compensated, the contemnor's liability does not cease.
D.D.A. has filed a list of properties held by Tejwant Singh, his wife, Surinder Kaur and their sons and daughters which according to them really belong to and are the properties of Tejwant Singh and his wife. They submitted that the various companies created by Tejwant Singh, his wife and his children are merely fronts and devices to defraud and defeat the claims of the purchasers and that for doing complete Justice between the parties the corporate veil should be lifted and all the said properties which have already been attached, should be proceeded with to realise the amounts necessary for paying the pre-January 29, 1991 purchasers in full [i e., interest] and also the post- January 29, 1991 purchasers. In particular! Sri Jaitley has pointed out the transaction of lease relating to he property at No.3, Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi. The facts brought to our notice are the following on October 1,1993 Tej Properties (P) Limited through its Chairman and Managing Directors Tejwant Singh, executed a lease agreement in favour of "Maple Leaf Trading Company Limited, a company having its office at 111, Charemont Roads Dublin, Ireland" for a period of five years [with an option to the lease to have it extended for another four years] at a rent of Rupees one lakh per month. The lease agreement was to take effect from October 8, 1993. On October 8, 1993, Maple Leaf executed a lease deed in respect of the said property in favour of the Embassy of Israel in India, New Delhi for a period of nine years at the rate of Rs.8,78,360/- per month. It is pointed out that Tejwant Singh and his wife, Surinder Kaur, were the only two directors of Tej Properties and that in 1988 and 19 one H.S.Sarna and Prabhjit Singh [one of the sons of Tejwant Singh] were brought in as its directors. It is submitted that this property really belongs to the contemnors and that this property alone is sufficient to realise all the monies due to the persons defrauded by the said contemnors.
"The contemnor should not be allowed to enjoy or retain the fruits of his contempt":
The principle that a contemnor ought not to be permitted to enjoy and/or keep the fruits of his contempt is well-settled. In Mohd.Idris v. R.J. Babuji [1985 (1) S.C.R.598], this Court held clearly that undergoing the punishment for contempt does not mean that the Court is not entitled to give appropriate directions for remedying and rectifying the things done in violation of its Orders. The petitioners therein had given an undertaking to the Bombay High Court. They acted in breach of it. A learned Single Judge held them guilty of contempt and imposed a sentence of one month's imprisonment. In addition thereto, the learned Single Judge made appropriate directions to remedy the breach of undertaking. It was contended before this Court that the learned Judge was not justified in giving the aforesaid directions to in additing to punishing the petitioners for contempt of court. The argument was rejected holding that "the Single Judge was quite right in giving appropriate directions to close the breach [of undertaking]".