Real Ispat & Power Limited vs Union Of India And Ors. on 6 July, 2011
The above
W.P. (C) 4723 & 6212 of 2010 Page 14 of 16
observations were relied upon by this Court in Prism Cements Limited v. Union of
India. It was observed that "normally the rule of seniority has to be applied; however, the
rule is not invariable; if the State Government considers that a later applicant has the
ability and capability to sub-serve the goals of the Act, better than a previous applicant, it
can override the rule of preference. However, while doing so, it has to record "special
reasons" which are germane to the situation at hand. The question was "whether the
reasons, of considerations which weighed with the State are relevant, and are genuine,
and also can be considered sufficient." It was pointed out that in exercise of the power of
the Constitution of India the scope of judicial review was limited. "The higher
investment, existence of power plant and employment generated, cannot be considered
irrelevant, as long as it subserves the larger purpose of the Act."