Bakereshwar ruling

LEGAL DIGEST

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Subhash Projects & Marketing Ltd against the judgment of the Calcutta High Court directing it to pay Rs 1 crore to L&T in a dispute over the award of contract for the construction of Bakereshwar thermal power project floated by the West Bengal Power Development Corporation.

L&T had challenged the award of the contract to Subhash in the high court. It held that the contract should have gone to L&T. However, in view of the lapse of time, the high court thought it expedient to order the payment of the amount to L&T. Subhash challenged it before the Supreme Court. It dismissed the appeal as well as that of L&T, which wanted the court to to give it the contract that was illegally given to its rival or call for new tenders.

Tribunal to review case

In a significant judgment dealing with the effect of settlement in industrial disputes, the Supreme Court has set aside the order of the Bombay High Court and the tribunal in M/s Jaihind Roadways vs Maharashtra Rajya Mathadi Transport & General Kamgar Union.

There was a dispute between the employer and the employees over the fixation of fair wages. The dispute was referred to the tribunal by the state government.

Meanwhile, there was a settlement between the employer and the employees. However, the tribunal fixed the wages on its own without accepting the settlement.

The workers submitted before the high court that they were agreeable to the settlement. However, the high court upheld the award of the tribunal. The Supreme Court set aside this order and asked the tribunal to decide the question of fairness afresh.

Directive to Pepsi

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has directed Pepsi Foods Ltd to desist from repeating a promotional scheme similar to the one launched by it in 1997.

Though the scheme had come to an end long ago, the commission, after examining the scheme, declared that it amounted to misleading representation and unfair trade practice.

The scheme called "Wear your freedom", offered several attractive gifts to consumers in exchange for 40 Pepsi crowns, but a consumer complained that he was offered only some stickers in exchange for the crowns.

Compensation for credit denial

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed SBI International Card to pay nearly Rs 1.5 lakh for the loss and mental agony caused to a student who was denied credit leading to loss of educational opportunities.

The credit card entitled him to draw up to Rs 56,000. When he applied for a foreign medical examination, his application was rejected as the credit card was not honoured. The student had completed two stages, but lost the third because of this problem.

The company justified the denial by pointing out a complicated condition. The commission ruled that the omission to mention this condition earlier amounted to denial of the right to information and deficiency in service.