Criminal Appeal jurisdiction of High Court - Powers under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution - Extent of jurisdiction - Whether High Court can go beyond considering the specific issue of granting or rejecting bail in a bail application - Court held that while the proper course of action for the High Court is to confine itself to the bail application, it can exercise its wide repertoire of powers under Articles 226 and 227 to prevent miscarriage of justice and safeguard the interest of justice. (Para 10)

Investigation - Importance of conducting a thorough and fair investigation - Lapses in investigation can lead to miscarriage of justice - Duty of investigative agencies and officers to bring on record all relevant materials in support of the truth - Failure to do so may result in undue benefit to the accused. (Para 22)

Observations in judgment - Effect on departmental proceedings - Observations made by the High Court in a judgment shall not prejudice the appellant in the departmental proceedings - Appellant entitled to raise all grounds and contentions in the departmental proceedings. (Para 27)

Acquittals - Failure of the justice delivery system - State's obligation to examine orders of acquittal and record reasons for failures in prosecution cases - Need for a procedural mechanism to ensure justice is served and the interest of the innocent is safeguarded. (Para 23)

Limitations on reading judgments - Judgments are not to be read as Euclid's theorems or construed as statutes - Specific cases are authorities only for what they actually decide - Each case to be decided on its own merits and factual matrix. (Para 19)

Direction for departmental proceedings - Observance of principles in previous judgments - Distinguishing the present case from previous judgments - Court held that the present case involves different factual positions and the directions for departmental proceedings were warranted in light of the lapses in the investigation and the decision of the Superintendent of Police to initiate proceedings against the appellant. (Para 21)

Dismissal of appeal - Upholding of Impugned Judgment - Court held that, considering the overall circumstances, the appeal was dismissed and the Impugned Judgment was upheld, with the caveat that the observations made against the appellant in the High Court's judgment shall not prejudice him in the departmental proceedings. (Para 25)

Statutory Provisions - Validity - Challenge not raised in writ petition - High Court's examination of validity unwarranted - Presumption of constitutionality in favor of statutory instrument - Lack of specific challenge in writ petition precludes consideration of repugnancy or legislative competence - Writ Court should refrain from issuing directions to ignore statutory provisions without striking them down.

Pleadings - Absence of specific challenge - Writ Court should not delve into issues of repugnancy or legislative competence without specific pleadings - Lack of notice to Advocate General of the State further impedes consideration of such issues.

Repugnancy - Need for specific challenge - Pleadings should demonstrate repugnancy between relevant statutory provisions and constitutional provision - Writ Court's observation on discrepancy and suggestion for dialogue between law departments unwarranted.

Writ Petition - Scope enlargement after 15 years - Writ petition filed to address imminent elections - Petitioners cannot expand scope of petition at this stage - Inappropriateness of writ Court's factual examination without supportive pleadings.

Disposition - Appeals allowed - Impugned judgment and order set aside - Writ petition dismissed - No costs awarded.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Schedule V, Para 5(1) – Power of Governor to direct application of Acts to Scheduled Areas – Governor not authorized to enact new Act, but only to direct that a particular Act shall not apply to a Scheduled Area or shall apply with exceptions and modifications specified in the notification – Governor’s power limited to applicability, modification, or creating exceptions concerning the Act of Parliament or the State – Notification ultra vires Para 5(1) of Schedule V if it creates a new law.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Schedule V, Para 5(2) – Power of Governor to make Regulations for peace and good governance of Scheduled Areas – Governor has plenary power of framing regulations for peace and good governance of Scheduled Area – Power of independent legislation.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Schedule V, Para 5(3) – Power of Governor to repeal or amend any Act of Parliament or State Legislature – Governor can repeal or amend any Act of Parliament or State Legislature in exercise of making regulations under Para 5(2) – Governor must follow prescribed procedure.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Schedule V, Para 5(1) – Governor’s power restricted to directing that a particular law will not apply to Scheduled Area or will apply with such modifications as specified in notification issued under sub-clause (1) or while making Regulations under sub-clause (2) – Governor’s power does not supersede Fundamental Rights under Part III of the Constitution – Fundamental Rights under Article 19(1)(e) can be exercised in relation to Scheduled Area.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 19(1)(e) – Every citizen has right to reside and settle in any part of territory of India – Reasonable restrictions can be put on said Fundamental Right by law under Article 19(5) – Non-Tribals have right to settle down in a Scheduled Area.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Part III – Fundamental Rights – Governor’s power under Schedule V does not prevail over Fundamental Rights under Part III – Powers are not in derogation but in furtherance of constitutional aims and objectives.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Representation of the People Act, 1950 – Applicable to Scheduled Areas – Eligible voters ordinarily residing in Scheduled Area have right to vote, even if non-Tribal.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Articles 330 and 332 – Reservation for Scheduled Tribes – Articles do not provide that all constituencies in Scheduled Areas shall be reserved for Scheduled Tribes – Reservation required to be made in accordance with provisions of Constitution – Writ of mandamus for reservation for Scheduled Tribes not maintainable.

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – Applicable to Scheduled Areas in absence of exercise of power by Governor under Schedule V – No merit in appeal filed by appellant – High Court’s dismissal of writ petition upheld. Appeal Dismissed

Section 482 - FIR under SC/ST Act - Quashing of - Test to determine – Held - while exercising its power to quash an FIR under Section 482, the High Court must determine whether the allegations made in the complaint, prima facie, constitute an offence, and whether the allegations are so improbable that a prudent man would not conclude that there is sufficient ground to proceed with the complaint - Kamal Shivaji Pokarnekar v. State of Maharashtra and Mahendra K C v. State of Karnataka referred.

Special Statutes - SC/ST Act - Quashing of FIR - Test to determine - Held, the mere fact that an offence is covered under the SC/ST Act would not inhibit the exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution or Section 482 of the Code, and the Court may exercise its powers to quash the proceedings if the offence in question is primarily civil or private, or where the continuation of the legal proceedings would be an abuse of the process of law - Ramawatar v. State of Madhya Pradesh referred.

Power of High Court to prevent abuse of process of law or secure ends of justice - Held, the recognition of the power of the High Court to prevent the abuse of process or secure the ends of justice is a valuable safeguard for protecting liberty - Arnab Manoranjan Goswami v. State of Maharashtra referred.

Delay in filing of FIR and resorting to criminal proceedings – Held - the Court has been consistent in interfering in cases where purely civil disputes are given the colour of criminality, only for the purposes of exerting extra-judicial pressure on the party concerned, which is nothing but abuse of the process of the court - In the present case, there is a huge, and quite frankly, unexplained delay of over 60 years in initiating dispute with regard to the ownership of the land in question, and the criminal case has been lodged only after failure to obtain relief in the civil suits, coupled with denial of relief in the interim therein to the respondent no.2/her family members - It is evident that resort was now being had to criminal proceedings which, in the considered opinion of this Court, is with ulterior motives, for oblique reasons and is a clear case of vengeance - The complaint and FIR are frivolous, vexatious and oppressive - Paras 36 and 37.

Duty of police officers to be vigilant before invoking provisions of a stringent statute – Held - the officers who institute an FIR based on any complaint are dutybound to be vigilant before invoking any provision of a very stringent statute like the SC/ST Act, which imposes serious penal consequences on the accused - The officer has to be satisfied that the provisions he seeks to invoke prima facie apply to the case at hand - Paras 38.

Decision: The High Court fell in error in not invoking its wholesome power under Section 482 of the Code to quash the FIR - Accordingly, the impugned judgment, being untenable in law, is set aside - The FIR, as also any proceedings emanating therefrom, insofar as they relate to the appellant, are quashed and set aside - Appeal allowed.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 34 - Setting aside of arbitral award - Patent illegality - Appeal against judgment and order passed by High Court setting aside arbitral award - Whether interference by High Court in findings and conclusions of arbitral award sustainable - Held, no - Mere errors on merits of the case do not amount to patent illegality - Narrow scope of patent illegality cannot be breached by mere use of different expressions referring only to error and not patent illegality - Court cannot reassess factual aspects and interfere with arbitral award - Principles laid down by Supreme Court in earlier judgments to be applied by Courts while dealing with arbitral award - Judgment of High Court setting aside arbitral award is not sustainable and is required to be set aside.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 31 - Interest on arbitral award - Reduction of interest rate - Justification for reducing rate of interest - Expression "current rate of interest" under Section 31(7)(b) explained in Explanation to have same meaning as assigned under Section 2(b) of Interest Act, 1978 - High Court may reduce interest awarded by arbitrator only when interest awarded does not reflect prevailing economic condition, is unreasonable or promotes interest of justice - In present case, High Court has not considered relevant factual aspects - Prevailing interest rate at time of award being prime lending rate of State Bank of India in range of 13% to 14% per annum, arbitral tribunal's award of interest at 15% p.a. was justified - High Court had no justification to reduce rate of interest to 10% p.a. - Award of interest at rate of 15% p.a. restored.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 34 - Interference by Courts in award of arbitrator - Restraint to be shown by Courts while examining validity of arbitral award - Otherwise, interference with arbitral award after reassessing factual aspects would be defeating object of Act - Arbitral awards not to be set aside by categorizing them as perverse or patently illegal without appreciating contours of these expressions - Principles expounded by Supreme Court in earlier judgments to be applied while dealing with matter.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 34 - Setting aside of arbitral award - Patent illegality - Appeal against judgment and order passed by High Court setting aside arbitral award - Whether interference by High Court in findings and conclusions of arbitral award sustainable - Held, no - Mere errors on merits of the case do not amount to patent illegality - Narrow scope of patent illegality cannot be breached by mere use of different expressions referring only to error and not patent illegality - Court cannot reassess factual aspects and interfere with arbitral award - Principles laid down by Supreme Court in earlier judgments to be applied by Courts while dealing with arbitral award - Judgment of High Court setting aside arbitral award is not sustainable and is required to be set aside.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 31 - Interest on arbitral award - Reduction of interest rate - Justification for reducing rate of interest - Expression "current rate of interest" under Section 31(7)(b) explained in Explanation to have same meaning as assigned under Section 2(b) of Interest Act, 1978 - High Court may reduce interest awarded by arbitrator only when interest awarded does not reflect prevailing economic condition, is unreasonable or promotes interest of justice - In present case, High Court has not considered relevant factual aspects - Prevailing interest rate at time of award being prime lending rate of State Bank of India in range of 13% to 14% per annum, arbitral tribunal's award of interest at 15% p.a. was justified - High Court had no justification to reduce rate of interest to 10% p.a. - Award of interest at rate of 15% p.a. restored.

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 34 - Interference by Courts in award of arbitrator - Restraint to be shown by Courts while examining validity of arbitral award - Otherwise, interference with arbitral award after reassessing factual aspects would be defeating object of Act - Arbitral awards not to be set aside by categorizing them as perverse or patently illegal without appreciating contours of these expressions.

Decision: The Supreme Court reiterated the narrow scope of interference with an arbitral award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and held that the High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction in the present case. The Court also held that the Commercial Court's order suffered from no infirmity and the High Court's comment on it was unjustified. The Court restored the arbitral award in its entirety and allowed the appeal filed by the appellant.

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – Section 482 – Recusal of Judge – Request for recusal by petitioner due to a previous stricture made against petitioner’s conduct in a related matter in 2011 – Prayer rejected – Held, request lacked bona fide and seemed to be made with mala fide intention to avoid the Bench for no valid reason – Observations made by the High Court against the petitioner’s conduct in the past could not be a ground to accede to the request made by the petitioner. The prayer for recusal is rejected.

Constitution of India – Article 142 – Forum Shopping and Bench Hunting – Attempt to indulge in – Held, strongly deprecated.

Criminal Appeal – Probation - Essential Commodities Act, 1955 - Violation of West Bengal Pulses, Edible Oil (Dealers Licensing) Order, 1978 - Conviction and sentence - Appellant found guilty of possessing mustard oil and vegetable oil in excess of permissible limit - Appellant convicted under Section 7(1)(a)(ii) of Essential Commodities Act - Trial Court sentenced appellant to rigorous imprisonment and imposed fine - High Court upheld conviction but reduced sentence - Appeal to Supreme Court - Appellant on bail throughout proceedings - Argument raised on time lapse and request for imposition of fine instead of imprisonment - Proviso of Section 7(1)(a)(ii) allows for lesser sentence for adequate and special reasons - Appellant found guilty on merits - Benefit of probation under Probation of Offenders Act granted - Appellant released on probation.

Validity of Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001 - Attack on the ground of manifest arbitrariness and discrimination when compared to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition; Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 - Comparison of two legislations by different governments and by different legislatures - Held, Article 14 of the Constitution of India does not authorize the striking down of a law of one State on the ground that, in contrast with a law of another State on the same subject, its provisions are discriminatory.

Application of Article 254(2) of the Constitution of India - Held, once a State law has received the assent of the President under Article 254(2), any repugnant provision in the State law would continue to operate notwithstanding the contrary provision in the Central legislation on the same subject.

Discretion of the State of Tamil Nadu in adopting legislation for acquiring lands – Held - the Validation Act of 2019 expressly excludes the operation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition; Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 for the purposes contained in the State Acts which stood revived owing to the assent of the President of India. Therefore, the State of Tamil Nadu would be bound to apply only the Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001 for acquiring lands for the purposes reserved thereunder.

Appeals Dismissed.