The Revival of Ray XXVIII

Posted on by Rudrajyoti Nath Ray

“The sheet anchor is the Constitution Bench Judgment in P. Vajravelu Mudaliar, (1965) 1 SCR 614 and Nagpur Improvement Trust, (1973) 1 SCC 500. In Nagpur Improvement Trust a Seven-Judge Bench of this Court examined the matter in some detail, and followed P. Vajravelu Mudaliar together with another Judgment, Balammal, (1969) 1 SCR 90. Both, P. Vajravelu Mudaliar and Nagpur Improvement Trust clinch the issue.

Nagpur Improvement Trust has clearly held that ordinarily a classification based on public purpose is not permissible under Article 14 for the purpose of determining compensation. Nagpur Improvement Trust has to be read as a whole. Merely emphasizing one example from the passages that have been extracted will not make the ratio of the said Judgment inapplicable.”

– Hon’ble Justice R.F. Nariman, Union of India v. Tarsem Singh, [Civil Appeal No. 7064 of 2019].

'The Last Word' seeks to include not only wise and witty sayings but also curiosities. These words are not of obligation but of delight. I am not alone in my refusal to believe that law is tedious. For all that has escaped these percipient eyes, mea culpa maxima. History, after all, has many cunning passages, contrived corridors and issues.