Departments Of Union Of India Should Not Take Contradictory Stands , Says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed that the departments of the Union of India should not take contradictory stands.

It does not augur well for the Union of India to speak in two contradictory voices, the bench of Justices BR Gavai and CT Ravikumar said.

The court suggested the Union of India to evolve a mechanism to ensure that whenever such conflicting stands are taken by different departments, they should be resolved at the governmental level itself.

This observation was made while allowing appeals filed by Central Warehouse Corporation against a judgment of the Gujarat High Court in a matter related to Adani Ports Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZL)

While considering these appeals, the bench took note of the opposite stands taken by two ministries of the Union of India. On one hand, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had held that the delineation/denotification as sought by the CWC is not permissible in law. On the other hand, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution had taken a stand that such a delineation/denotification is permissible in law and has also stated that there are precedents for doing so.

"We are of the considered view that it does not augur well for the Union of India to speak in two contradictory voices. The two departments of the Union of India cannot be permitted to take stands which are diagonally opposite.", the bench observed.

The court referred to the observations made in Lloyd Electric and Engineering Limited v. State of Himachal Pradesh (2016) 1 SCC 560. While allowing the appeal, the court noted:

"We, therefore, impress upon the Union of India to evolve a mechanism to ensure that whenever such conflicting stands are taken by different departments, they should be resolved at the governmental level itself. We, therefore, direct the Registry to furnish a copy of this judgment to the learned Attorney General for India to use his good offices and do the needful."

Case details

Central Warehouse Corporation vs Adani Ports Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZL) | 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 839 | SLP(C) 15548-49 of 2021 | 13 October 2022 | Justices BR Gavai and CT Ravikumar

Headnotes

Practice and Procedure - It does not augur well for the Union of India to speak in two contradictory voices. The two departments of the Union of India cannot be permitted to take stands which are diagonally opposite - Union of India to evolve a mechanism to ensure that whenever such conflicting stands are taken by different departments, they should be resolved at the governmental level itself. (Para 52-53)

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