SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
State of Haryana and Others
Vs
Messrs Agm Management Services Limited
Appeal (Civil) 2751 of 2006 (Arising Out of Slp(C) No. 9913 of 2006)
(Arijit Pasayat and Altamas Kabir, JJ)
15.06.2006
ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.
Leave granted.
The State of Haryana, Deputy Commissioner-cum- Collector, Faridabad and the
Sub-Registrar, Faridabad call in question legality of the judgment rendered by
a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court by which Civil Writ
Petition No.167 of 2006 filed by the respondnt was disposed of.
The High Court disposed of the Writ Petition with the following direction:
"The only prayer of the petitioner at this stage is that the present
matter be disposed of by the respondents by keeping in mind the order of this
Court appended as Annexure P-7 with application. We accordingly issue a
direction to the respondents that necessary exercise be completed within a
period of four months from the date that a certified copy of this order is
supplied to them."
Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the High Court without
indicating as to how the order of the High Court in an earlier case in Ramesh
Chand and Ors. v. The Registrar- cum-Deputy Commissioner, Jind & Ors. i.e
C.W.P. No.14360 of 2005 had any relevance so far as the dispute raised by the
respondent No.1 before it. According to him the judgment in CWP No. 14360 of
2005 related to refusal to register the sale deed on two grounds. The present
case, according to the learned counsel for the appellant, does not relate to a
refusal to register the sale deed. By the impugned letter dated 21.12.2005, the
respondent was required to obtain "No objection certificate" from the
office of the District and Town Planner, Faridabad. The High Court, therefore,
was not justified in giving the directions as noted above.
In response, learned counsel for the respondents submitted that though the
letter dated 21.12.2005 appears to be innocuous, in a sense that relates to
refusal of registration. Reference is made to Section 7(A) of the Haryana
Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 (in short the 'Act') to
substantiate the stand.
We find that the High Court has not even indicated as to the applicability of
the decision in Ramesh Chand's case (supra) to the facts of the present case.
The Courts should not place reliance on decisions without discussing as to how
the factual situation fits in with the fact situation of the decision on which
reliance is placed. Observations of Courts are neither to be read as Euclid's
theorems nor as provisions of the statute and that too taken out of their
context. These observations must be read in the context in which they appear to
have been stated. Judgments of Courts are not to be construed as statutes. To
interpret words, phrases and provisions of a statute, it may become necessary
for judges to embark into lengthy discussions but the discussion is meant to
explain and not to define. Judges interpret statutes, they do not interpret
judgments. They interpret words of statutes; their words are not to be
interpreted as statutes. In London Graving Dock Co. Ltd. v. Horton 1951 Indlaw HL 11 at p.761), Lord Mac Dermot observed:
"The matter cannot, of course, be settled merely by treating the ipsissima
vertra of Willes, J as though they were part of an Act of Parliament and
applying the rules of interpretation appropriate thereto. This is not to
detract from the great weight to be given to the language actually used by that
most distinguished judge."
In Home Office v. Dorset Yacht Co. 1970 Indlaw HL 2
Lord Reid said, "Lord Atkin's speech.....is not to be treated as if it was
a statute definition. It will require qualification in new circumstances."
Megarry, J in 1971 Indlaw CHD 83 observed:
"One must not, of course, construe even a reserved judgment of Russell
L.J. as if it were an Act of Parliament." and, in Herrington v. British
Railways Board 1972 Indlaw HL 20 Lord Morris
said:
"There is always peril in treating the words of a speech or judgment as
though they are words in a legislative enactment, and it is to be remembered
that judicial utterances made in the setting of the facts of a particular
case."
Circumstantial flexibility, one additional or different fact may make a world
of difference between conclusions in two cases. Disposal of cases by blindly
placing reliance on a decision is not proper.
The following words of Lord Denning in the matter of applying precedents have
become locus classicus:
"Each case depends on its own facts and a close similarity between one
case and another is not enough because even a single significant detail may
alter the entire aspect, in deciding such cases, one should avoid the
temptation to decide cases (as said by Cordozo) by matching the colour of one
case against the colour of another. To decide, therefore, on which side of the
line a case falls, the broad resemblance to another case is not at all
decisive." .... ...
"Precedent should be followed only so far as it marks the path of justice,
but you must cut the dead wood and trim off the side branches else you will
find yourself lost in thickets and branches. My plea is to keep the path to
justice clear of obstructions which could impede it."
As noted above, the High Court has not even discussed as to how the decision in
Ramesh Chand's case (supra) had any similarity to the facts of the present
case.
In the aforesaid background we set aside the order of the High Court and remit
the matter for a fresh hearing in accordance with law. We make it clear we have
not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.
Learned counsel for the respondent submitted that similar cases are pending in
the High Court awaiting decision in this case. Therefore, it would be proper
that the writ petition is disposed of finally.
Keeping in view the aforesaid submission, we request the High Court to dispose
of the writ petition as early as possible. The appeal is accordingly disposed
of. No costs.