Page 23 - Banking Finance August 2024

LEGAL UPDATE

in Rajasthan, who filed a police com- Construction was incomplete, and the for termination of service, SC has ruled,
plaint after receiving an I-T notice of project had been transferred to Infi- reports Dhananjay Mahapatra.
Rs 12.2 crore. The dead, senior citi- nite Dwelling Pvt. Ltd. via a develop- Setting aside concurrent judgments of
zens, farmers and students are easy ment agreement.
a single judge bench and division bench
targets for PAN fraudsters. With possession still pending, Adyaraj of Guwahati HC directing reinstatement
"Misuse of the PAN by unscrupulous had a legal notice issued in 2019 but of a dismissed CRPF constable, a bench
elements can cause lots of difficulties, did not receive a satisfactory response. of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin
including huge demands being raised After waiting for 11 years, he filed a Amanullah said his failure to mention
on an individual due to additions to complaint with the National Commis- the pending FIR and bail granted to him
his/her income during assessment for sion, alleging deficiency in service by in the antecedent certificate submitted
transactions that do not pertain to the Patel Engineering and Infinite Dwelling. at the time of joining CRPF, despite re-
PAN holder. While the highest secrecy The complaint stated that the agree- peated warning that non-disclosure
must be maintained of one's PAN, the ment imposed 24 per cent interest for would led to termination, is a valid
reality is that details are freely shared delayed payment by the purchaser but ground for his dismissal.
for various purposes," said Ketan only offered 10 per cent interest as
Vajani, chartered accountant. Justice Kohli said the constable was
compensation for possession delays. well-aware of the fact that a criminal
The builder argued the delay was due case had been registered against him,
Force majeure plea must
to force majeure, meaning due to cir- he was taken into judicial custody and
be backed by evidence cumstances beyond the builder's con- had subsequently got bail from trial
Patel Realty, a limited company, trol. Infinite Dwelling argued it could court on Oct 4, 2011. "All these events
claimed to be the exclusive owner of a not be held liable as the development had occurred well before Nov 30, 2011,
plot in Bengaluru on which it was de- agreement stated that Patel Engi- the date on which the respondent had
veloping a project called Townsville. On neering would be solely responsible for filled up the verification roll," she said.
March 15, 2012, Adyaraj applied for a delays. When CRPF authorities repeatedly
residential apartment. The builder is- The National Commission ruled that asked the constable about pendency of
sued an allotment letter on March 24, possession should have been given by FIR, he categorically denied any knowl-
2012, for a 3,477 sq. ft. unit with two June 2014. It rejected the force ma- edge of it. This had led to a disciplin-
parking spaces. jeure defence, observing that no evi- ary proceeding resulting in his dismissal

After Adyaraj paid Rs 5 lakh, a sale dence was put forward to substantiate in 2014, three years after he joined
agreement was signed on February the plea that the delay was caused by CRPF. Justice Kohli said, "He had wil-
26, 2012. The agreement stated that unforeseen events. fully withheld material information
the total cost would be Rs from the appellants while filling up the
1,76,33,762, and possession would be SC: Non-disclosure of verification roll. He had further miscon-
granted by December 2013, subject to ducted himself when the appellants
a grace period extending till June 2014. pending case can lead to issued him a show-cause notice calling
termination upon him to explain his position and
Adyaraj took a bank loan and paid Rs.
1,21,47,705 according to the payment Suppressing information about a pend- falsely denied the allegations levelled
schedule. In December 2013, he ing FIR at time of submitting anteced- against him in his reply to the notice
learned that Patel Realty had under- ent certificate by an applicant, even if to show cause that ultimately led to
gone corporate insolvency proceedings the person gets acquitted of the initiation of disciplinary proceedings
and merged with Patel Engineering. charges by a court, would be grounds against him."

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