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Largesse of natural resources stopped
The most resounding judgment which the Supreme Court delivered this year was the one cancelling about 200 coal mining licences on August 25, after setting up a special court a month earlier to try the guilty. The ruling in the public interest petition, Common Cause vs Union of India, is the most important decision since the judgment two years earlier cancelling 2G spectrum licences.
Go-ahead for corruption probes
Related to the corruption issue were two other judgments: one which held that the Central Bureau of Investigation did not need sanction from higher authorities to investigate top bureaucrats (Subramanian Swamy vs Union of India) and the other which ruled that private companies that share revenue from natural resources like spectrum with the government would be subjected to CAG audit. It said so while dismissing the appeal of the Association of Unified Telecom Services Providers.
Tribulations of tribunals
The recent trend of setting up tribunals in various sectors to lighten high courts' burden and speed up decisions suffered a setback again when the Supreme Court struck down the National Tax Tribunal Act on grounds that it encroached upon the power of the judiciary and the principle of separation of powers (Madras Bar Association vs Union of India).
Bid to unclog cheque-bounce cases
The Supreme Court has dealt with scores of appeals and issued two dozen
guidelines to sort out legal conundrums invented by drawers, payees and their counsel. One such judgment is Giriraj Proteins Ltd vs D M Finance. In Gunmala Sales Ltd vs Navkar Infra Projects Ltd, the court dealt with the liability of directors of a company which issues cheques which are dishonoured by banks and laid down principles not quite comforting to the directors.
Directors in the dock
It is not just in cheque-bounce cases that directors find the law too dense and uncomfortable. In other fields also the rulings will keep them on the edge of their executive chairs. In the case of Sushil Ansal vs State, the court dismissed the appeals of industrialists Sushil and Gopal Ansal against their conviction in the complaint of Association of Victims of Upahaar Tragedy.
Discordant notes in labour law
On the labour law front, the Supreme Court has been generally sympathetic to contract workers and daily wagers. This month, it directed the Food Corporation to regularise 49 workers who were kept as casual employees for a long time, holding the practice as an "unfair labour practice." However, in the judgment, Nand Kumar vs State of Bihar, the court rejected the prayer for regularisation of daily wagers who were employed for two decades by the State Agricultural Produce Marketing Board.
Remedy as bad as disease
Arbitration and conciliation have been recommended to avoid delays and expenses. But these alternative disputes resolution mechanism has also got mired in myriad ills. The courts are moved at every stage on flimsy grounds. Wrangles over choice of arbitrators, jurisdiction and execution of foreign awards are some of the sore points. In one typical case, N-E Railway vs Tripple Engg Works, arbitration had not started even for two decades and the Supreme Court appointed an arbitrator to set the ball rolling.
SC unburdens environment cases
After several years of grappling with depredation of forests and rivers in public interest cases, the Supreme Court has passed on much of the work to the National Green Tribunal set up recently. Earlier, the court had dealt with illegal mining in ore-rich states, prising open the corrupt nexus between politicians and industries.
New land acquisition law at work
The new land acquisition law has been invoked by the court to strike down take-overs on emergency basis, without paying compensation and not using the land for more than five years for the declared purpose. In the latest case, Velaxan vs Union of India, the acquisition was struck down under the new law.
Creditors' chase of borrowers gets longer
Judgments on the rights of secured creditors and borrowers under the Securitisation Act and the Sick Industries Act continue to worry both sides. In the latest legal bout, KSL Industries vs Arihant Threads, the creditors of sick companies lost their battle when the court decided that the latter Act will prevail over the Debt Recovery Act, protecting sick units.
