Gulshan Prakash v. State of Haryana (2010) 1 SCC 477||Case Summary Introduction In this appeal, the Court has interpreted Article 15(4) of the Fundamental Right. It has been added by the 1st Amendment Act, of 1951. Facts The State of Haryana instructed Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak to conduct entrance examination for MD/MS/PG courses for the Session 2008-2009. The appellant made a representation to the Health Secretary for providing reservation for SC and ST in the Post Graduate courses, Since there was no response from the Health Secretary the Appellant filed a petition in the High Court. The High Court dismissed the petition of the appellant therefore the appellant approached the Supreme Court by Special Leave Petition under Article 136. Appellant Contentions MDU, Rohtak has provided 20% reservation for the graduate level courses or undergraduate courses therefore the said University should also provide reservation in for the PG courses. The Government o
This case will tell us about the position of the company, as we know the company is a legal person but along with it we will understand in the present case that
Whether the company is a citizen of the Country where it has been registered. And as a citizen whether the company will be entitled to get the fundamental right of a Citizen.
So get ready to grab a new understanding of the Company.
Facts
The appellant is a private Ltd. company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 and the second petitioner is a shareholder in the first petitioner (appellant) company.
The appellant went to the court under Article 32, CoI along with K.B Lal to quash the proceeding which has imposed by the Andhra Pradesh and Bihar governments' commercial tax officer and also quash the notice of demand issued for payment of the sum assessed.
Appellant contentions
Claimed to be "Indian citizen" as all of its shareholders are Indian citizens.
Fundamental rights under Article 19 of the constitution have been infringed as a result of the proceeding taken and the demand for sale tax made by appropriate authorities.
Part II of the Constitution relating to Citizenship and the Citizenship Act are not relevant for our purposes because it does not define a Citizen nor does it deal with the totality of citizenship.
By referring to Article 372 which preserves the pre-existing laws, they contended
Volume 6, Halsbury's Laws of England lays down that a company is a legal entity when it is incorporated and its nationality and domicile are determined by its place of registration.
Volume 9, Halsbury's Laws of England says that the concept of nationality applies to corporations and it depends upon the country of its corporation.
Persons include all citizens and non-citizens, natural and artificial persons.
Issue
Whether the State Trading Corporation, a company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956, a Citizen within the meaning of the Constitution and can ask for the enforcement of Fundamental rights guaranteed to the Citizen?
Ratio Decidendi
Part II of the Constitution determines who are citizens at the commencement of the Constitution only. Therefore it deals with natural persons only.
Articles 15,16,19,29,30 are available to the citizens only. The makers of the Constitution were well aware of the distinction between the expressions "person" and "any citizens". It deliberately kept out non-citizens. Non-citizens include aliens and artificial persons.
The Court is unable to accept the contention made by the appellant that "Persons include all citizens and non-citizens, natural and artificial persons". Part III of the Constitution deals with fundamental rights, of which some are available to "any person" whereas some are available only to "all citizens".
S. 2(1)(f) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, defines "person" as it doesn't include any company or association, or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not. Therefore it excludes artificial or juristic persons.
Difference between Nationality & Citizenship
Nationality may arise for consideration under international law, on the other hand, "Citizenship" has jural relationship under municipal law.
Nationality determines the civil rights of a person, natural or artificial, regarding international law. Whereas citizenship is concerned with civic rights under municipal law.
All citizens are nationals of a particular state but all nationals may not be citizens of the state.
Rights under cl. (b), (d) and (e) of Article 19 can not be applied by a corporation. Hence a corporation can not be considered as a citizen within the meaning of Article 19.
The makers of the Constitution altogether left juristic persons in Part II of the Constitution, and also later in Part III made a clear distinction between persons and citizens.
Judgment
It has cleared that a company cannot have the status of a citizen under the constitution of India.
A company has no F.R. which is expressly available to citizens only however Company can claim to protect those rights that are available to all persons.
In the present case, the petitioner claimed for article 19 which is not available to a 'legal person' therefore appeal was dismissed.
Ashbury railway carriage v riche|| Case Summary Introduction This case is related to the " Doctrine of Ultra Vires". In this case, the directors of the appellant company made an agreement with the plaintiff which was beyond the objectives, as mentioned in its MoA, of the appellant Company. Since the agreement was beyond its objectives, the appellant company repudiated the agreement later. Therefore the suit was brought by the plaintiff to recover the damages. Facts The directors of the appellant company (Ashbury Railway Carriage) had contracted to obtain a concession from Gillon and Poeters Baerston, who obtained this right from the Belgian Government, to make a railway. For this purpose, the directors of the appellant company again entered into a contract with Riche, a contractor, the purpose of which was to establish a société anonyme, and as the plaintiff went on with the work, the appellant company had to pay into the hands of société anonyme, Earlier the sharehol
Workmen of Dimakuchi Tea Estate v. Dimakuchi Tea Estate, AIR 1958 SC 353 Case Summary Introduction The case of Workmen of Dimakuchi Tea Estate v. Dimakuchi Tea Estate involved a dispute between the management of the Dimakuchi Tea Estate and its workers. This case has discussed and cleared the meaning of the expression "any person" used in S.2(K) of the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of a limited interpretation of the term "any person" thereby excluding the present appellant from the ambit of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. This decision denied the jurisdiction of the Industrial Tribunal to adjudicate the dispute and extended the benefits and protections of the Act to the employers. Facts of the Case The dispute was raised over the termination of the service of Dr K.P. Banerjee, who was appointed as an Assistant Medical Officer in the Respondent's estate (Dimakuchi Tea Estate), on the grounds of being incompetent. Although th
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