The editorial ‘Move Mr Deora’, August 5, will be supported by all right-thinking citizens who believe that the government must not only be fair, it must also appear to be fair. On the core issue, I would like to point out that the principle of promissory estoppel prevents the government from ‘coming up with a policy after an event and then apply it retrospectively’. Once substantial investment has been made (irrespective of whether the factory is ready or not) in pursuance of a promise made by an authority which is competent to make the promise, the authority cannot retract the promise. It is a well-accepted principle of law enunciated by the Supreme Court in many judgments. The view that public interest is superior to all existing policies has serious limitations.
The public interest can be invoked only if there is a misuse by the person availing of the benefit — there is no such allegation of this kind in the RIL-RNRL case, at least as far as the facts stand. And more importantly, public interest cannot be allowed to thwart the fundamental right of the beneficiary — this has been the view of the courts on various occasions and particularly in the famous case of Indian Express and other newspapers. In that case, what was at stake was the fundamental right to freedom of speech while in this case it may as well be the fundamental right to carry on any occupation, trade or business. The government cannot be allowed to behave whimsically just by citing the public interest. Public interest is subject to judicial scrutiny.
Sukumar Mukhopadhyay, New Delhi