Gas Secure Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd vs Regional P.F. Commissioner-I & Anr on 31 October, 2022
On the submission that Section 61 of the Act had to be read in
consonance with the Objects and Reasons of the Act, and when the
Gujarat Gas Ltd. Vs. P&NGRB & Anr. 17 of 41
[Judgement in A.No. 115 of 2023 & IA No. 2153 of 2022]
Board had the power to frame regulations to carry out the purposes
of the Act, it had framed the Regulations in accordance with the
legislation, the Supreme Court held that they had already dealt with
the purport of Section 11, adverted to the facet how the words
"subject to" had to be interpreted, the functions of the Board and the
provisions relating to exclusivity, definitions of "common carrier" and
the "contract carrier"; Section 61 was a provision that enabled the
Board to frame Regulations; if, on reading of the statute in its
entirety, such a power did not flow, a delegated authority could not
frame a regulation as that would not accord with the statutory
provisions nor would it be for the purpose of carrying on the
provisions of the Act; in the case at hand, the Board had not been
conferred such a power as per Section 11 of the Act; that was the
legislative intent; Section 61 enabled the Board to frame Regulations
to carry out the purposes of the Act, and certain specific aspects had
been mentioned therein; Section 61 should be read in the context of
the statutory scheme; regulatory provisions should be read and
applied keeping in view the nature and textual context of the
enactment, as that was the source of power; on a scanning of the
entire Act, and applying various principles, they found that the Act
did not confer any such power on the Board and the expression
"subject to" used in Section 22 made it a conditional one; it had to
yield to other provisions of the Act; as the power to fix the tariff had
not been given to the Board, it could not frame a Regulation which
would cover the area pertaining to determination of network tariff for
a city or local gas distribution network, and compression charge for
CNG; and, as the entire Regulation centred around the said subject,
the said Regulation deserved to be declared ultra vires.