Page 17 - BANKING FINANCE APRIL 2017

LEGAL UPDATE

Charitable Trust cannot be treated as a person: SC Victims of Nira Deoghar

A trust is not a person according to the Consumer Protection Act and therefore
it cannot file a complaint before consumer forums, the Su- project gets compensa-
preme Court ruled in the case, Pratibha Pratisthan vs Canara tion
Bank. The charitable trust registered under the Bombay The Bombay High Court has ordered
Charitable Trust Act had appealed against the order of the the Maharashtra government to pay
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. compensa-
Upholding the view of the national body, the Supreme Court tion includ-
explained the trust did not fall in the definition of "complain- ing water
ant", "consumer" or "person". A person, for purposes of consumer law means (i) supply and
a firm whether registered or not; (ii) a Hindu undivided family; (iii) a cooperative irrigation
society; and (iv) every other association of persons whether registered or not. facilities to
all the families who were evacuated
RBI not mandated to hear job loss pleas by the Nira Deoghar irrigation

When the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asks a finance company to stop a particu- project. Their land was acquired for
lar kind of business, its employees have no right to a meagre sum in 1996 and 65 per
be heard for fear of loss of jobs. They can send a cent of it was demanded back for
written representation but the RBI Act does not their rehabilitation.
provide for an oral hearing, said the Calcutta High
However, the high court noted in its
Court while rejecting the writ petitions of Peerless
judgment in Genba Laxman vs State
General Finance Co and its employees' union. RBI
that, "quite insensitive to the trauma
had directed Peerless to transit from "Residuary
of such uprootment from ancestral
Non-Banking Company" (RNBC) business.
lands and houses, the state failed to
They challenged the directions on several grounds, which were all rejected by provide any rehabilitation measures.
the high court. One of the arguments was that the workers were not given an In particular, the lands allotted in
opportunity of being heard. The judgment noted that their grievances had been Satara district were barren and
taken up by MPs and written representations were considered by RBI. They have lacked irrigation facilities". The gov-
no right to oral hearing. RBI has not ordered closure of the company, but only
ernment contended it had no obliga-
one branch of business. Workers can be absorbed in other activities of the com-
tion to provide alternative land. It
pany, the high court said.
further argued that it was exercising
Calcutta HC dismisses plea on cigarettes package design sovereign functions and therefore
immune from demand for compensa-
The Calcutta High Court has dismissed the plea of ITC Ltd, manufacturer of 'Clas-
tion.
sic' cigarettes, challenging the decision of the Controller
of Patents & Designs, who had dismissed its plea to cancel The court accepted the contention
the registration of packet designs of Philip Morris products. of the displaced persons that the
state had violated not only the terms
Invoking the provisions of the Designs Act, ITC had argued
of the Maharashtra Project Affected
that the designs of the rival cigarette packs were not new
Persons Rehabilitation Act but also
or original and slight variations from the existing designs would not qualify for
their fundamental right to life. In a
registration under the Act. Moreover, the designs had been published in foreign
journals, ITC contended. Rejecting the contentions, the court emphasised the lengthy judgment, the court asserted
"test of novelty is in the eye of the judge who must place the two designs side by the power of courts to order com-
side and see whether the one for which novelty is claimed is in fact new. It is a pensation when fundamental rights
matter of first impression." The controller had applied the eye test and found are violated by the state and raised
that the features were different. the rate of compensation.

BANKING FINANCE | APRIL | 2017 | 17

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