NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented development, a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam strongly disapproved of a series of orders passed by a bench headed by his immediate predecessor Altamas Kabir granting relief to Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) by virtually sitting in appeal over the order of another bench of the apex court which had declined to give concession to the construction and infrastructure group.
The orders passed by the bench headed by the ex-CJI helped the company dodge depositing Rs 100 crore as penalty that Himachal Pradesh high court had slapped on it in May last year for misrepresenting facts for securing clearances to set up a cement plant.
While an SC bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik in November last year refused to stay the HC order and asked the company to meet the deadline for depositing the penalty, the bench led by ex-CJI Kabir passed orders enabling the company to defer paying the fine, before staying the HC order.
"We do not approve of the manner in which the interim orders came to be passed. We do not sit on appeal over orders passed by a coordinate bench. These orders should not have been passed," a bench of CJI Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said on Wednesday as it rejected JAL's plea for extension of deadline for payment of Rs 25 crore as this year's installment for the Rs 100 crore penalty.
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