High Court Kerala High Court

K. vs Secretary on 19 August, 2009

Kerala High Court
K. vs Secretary on 19 August, 2009
       

  

  

 
 
  IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

WP(C).No. 21574 of 2008(R)


1. K.,M.ABDULLA, S/O.MOHAMMED
                      ...  Petitioner

                        Vs



1. SECRETARY, PAYYANNUR MUNICIPALITY,
                       ...       Respondent

2. DISTRICT JUDGE, THALASSERY.

3. SUBORDINATE JUDGE, PAYYANNUR.

                For Petitioner  :SRI.M.V.AMARESAN

                For Respondent  :SRI.M.SASINDRAN

The Hon'ble MR. Justice THOTTATHIL B.RADHAKRISHNAN

 Dated :19/08/2009

 O R D E R
              THOTTATHIL B. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.
                     ...........................................
                     WP(C).NO.21574 OF 2008
                     ............................................
              Dated this the 19th day of August, 2009


                                JUDGMENT

“C.R.”

1.On public demand, including the persuasions of the Bar

Association, a building was leased out to the Government on

3rd January, 1987, to house the Sub Court, Payyannur. A lease

deed was thereafter executed on 16.12.1990, for a period of

five (5) years therefrom, renewable on mutual consent for any

further period and terminable on three (3) months’ notice by

either side after the period fixed, or in the event of shifting of

the Court to a government building, whichever is earlier.

2.With the passage of time, the owners wanted to build two more

floors above the existing structure, after making modifications

to the ground floor. They were granted building permit on

29.6.1999. However, they could not commence construction

until now, August 2009, since the Sub Court is yet to be shifted

out of that premises.

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3.While the owners waited for vacant possession of the building

to carry out the construction, they had to keep the building

permit renewed thrice, from 29.6.1999, extended up to

26.7.2008, for a span of nine years. They had also to execute

lease deeds effective from earlier dates, obviously to enable

disbursement of rent. After executing Ext.P4 agreement of

lease on 23.02.2006, for a period of five (5) years from

3.01.2002, the learned District Judge issued Ext.P5 letter

informing the landowners that the construction of the building

for accommodating the Sub Court is in good progress and it is

expected to be completed by 26.01.2007 and the Court would

be shifted to the new building on such completion. In fact,

that letter was issued on the basis of an office memorandum

dated 9.10.2006, issued by the High Court. Unfortunately, the

completion of the building got further delayed. On the

representation on behalf of the landowners, the High Court

issued office memorandum dated 6.6.2008 and following that,

on 17.6.2008, learned District Judge issued Ext.P6, essentially

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requesting the land owners to wait till the court shifted to the

new building and informing them that the construction of the

new sub court building would be completed soon.

4.The land owners again made Ext.P7 representation, obviously

facing the situation that they would be running out of time to

commence construction of the building, in terms of the permit

that stood renewed and extended up to 26.7.2008. It appears

that the Bar Association drew up Ext.P8 resolution requesting

the municipality to grant special permission to the land owners

to make the construction, having regard to the delay in

delivering the building back to them, after shifting the sub

court. With this, the land owners applied to the municipal

secretary. That was rejected as per Ext.P10 stating that the

building permit was renewed from time to time for a total

period of 9 years which is the maximum period for which a

building permit could be kept alive even by renewal, in terms

of Rule 15A(10) of the Kerala Municipality Building Rules,

1999, hereinafter referred to as the ‘KMBR’.

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5.This writ petition is filed challenging the aforesaid decision

and seeking a declaration that the construction of the building

could not be commenced as permitted by the municipality only

due to the failure to surrender the building in spite of repeated

assurances and hence, for a further direction to re-consider

the application for extension of the period to build in terms of

the licences originally granted.

6.On facts, it needs to be noticed that the land owners had never

intended the building to be made available for housing the sub

court for all times to come. In fact, the renewal deeds would

show that even those documents were executed long after

each spell of continued occupation, essentially to enable

release of rent and occupation charges. The materials on

record contain the repeated statement by learned District

Judge that the construction of the judicial complex is being

completed. It is also stated by the learned Government

Pleader, on instructions, that the judicial complex is likely to

be inaugurated shortly.

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7.Ext.P2 building permit was issued on 29.6.1999. That was

issued before the KMBR came into force on 1.10.1999. By

virtue of Rule 15A (10) of KMBR, such permits could be

renewed only for a maximum period of nine years. That

prescription is well in consonance with sub rules 1 and 2 of

that Rule which provides that the period of permit issued

under KMBR shall be three years and could be renewed twice,

each for a duration of three years. Technically, therefore, the

owners’ application for further renewal after 26.7.2008 may

not be allowable in terms of statutory provisions in the KMBR

as they now stand.

8.This writ petition was filed on 16.7.2008, i.e., before

26.7.2008, the date on which the building permit would expire.

Later, an application for a fresh permit was also filed. But the

fact of the matter remains that when an application for a new

permit is made under 1999 KMBR, rather than for a renewal of

the permit earlier granted and renewed from time to time from

29.6.1999, the owners would stand compelled to obey the

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various prescriptions of the 1999 KMBR which may cause

much harm and grave injustice on the face of the fact that they

were not able to carry out the construction for no ground

attributable to them, but only to the fact that the building was

occupied for the purpose of discharging the sovereign

functions of the State, viz, judicial functions. It may be true

that the owners had to enter into agreements of renewal of the

lease. That action is only technical, because without such

agreements, the owners would not have been able to draw

even the rent.

9.The aforesaid situation raises a fundamental question as to

whether, when an impossibility of performance of the nature in

hand is created as the result of matters akin to the exercise of

the sovereign functions, would it be permissible to tie down

the citizen to a statutory provision, depriving him of his

legitimate entitlements and expectations in terms of the

statutory rules which could have been enjoyed but for the

interference by such sovereign functions.

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10.Courts of justice are, constitutionally, established throughout

the land under several statutes, for administration of justice.

The whole set up of a court is for the purpose of administration

of justice. The courts of justice in a State, from the highest to

the lowest, are by their constitution, entrusted with functions

directly connected with the administration of justice. Courts of

justice have, in accordance with their constitution, to perform

multifarious functions for due administration of justice. Laying

down the law or doing justice between the parties is of the soul

of the duties of the court though administration of justice is a

term of wider import than mere adjudication of causes from

the seat of justice. The Presiding Judge of a Court embodies in

himself the Court, and when engaged in the task of

administering justice, is assisted by a complement of clerks

and ministerial officers whose duty it is, to protect and

maintain the records, prepare the writs, serve the processes

etc. The acts in which they are engaged are acts in aid of

administration of justice.- See Baradakanta Mishra v.

Registrar of Orissa High Court, [(1974) 1 SCC 374].

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11.As recorded in Rama Rao v. Narayan, [(1969) 1 SCC 167],

in Halsbury’s Laws of England, 3rd Edn., Vol. 9, Article

809, at page 342, it is stated: “Originally the term `court’

meant, among other meanings, the sovereign’s place; it has

acquired the meaning of the place where justice is

administered and further, has come to mean the persons who

exercise judicial functions under authority derived either

immediately or mediately from the sovereign……..”. In our

Republic, in the ultimate sense, all courts derive their

authority from the People and hold it in trust for their security

and benefit. The power they exercise is nothing but the

authority of the People themselves, exercised through courts

as their agents. It is the authority and laws emanating from the

People, which the judges sit to exercise and enforce.

12.In Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee v. Union of

India [(1994) 6 SCC 731], the Apex Court stated that it is

common knowledge that a `court’ is an agency created by the

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sovereign for the purpose of administering justice. It is a place

where justice is judicially administered. It is a legal entity. It

is a Tribunal presided over by one or more Judges on whom

are conferred certain judicial powers for administering justice

in accordance with law. When a Judge takes his seat in court,

the court is said to have assembled for administering justice.

The authority to create courts is an attribute of sovereignty.

When complete in its organised aspect with all the constituent

elements of time, place and officers, a `court’ is constituted in

the general legal acceptation of the term.

13.As stated by the Apex Court in S.P. Gupta v. Union of

India, [(1981} Supp SCC 87], if there is one principle which

runs through the entire fabric of the Constitution; it is the

principle of the Rule of Law. Under the Constitution, it is the

judiciary which is entrusted with the task of keeping every

organ of the State within the limits of the law and thereby

making the rule of law meaningful and effective. Judicial

review is one of the most potent weapons in the armoury of

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law. The judiciary seeks to protect the citizen against violation

of his constitutional or legal rights or misuse or abuse of

power by the State or its officers. The judiciary stands between

the citizen and the State as a bulwark against executive

excesses and misuses or abuse of power by the executive.

14.Axiomatically, reiterating the views expressed in C.

Ravichandran Iyer v. Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee, [(1995)

5 SCC 457], it was emphasised in High Court of Judicature

at Bombay v. Shirishkumar Rangrao Patil, [(1997) 6 SCC

339], that in a democracy governed by rule of law, under a

written constitution, judiciary is the sentinel on the qui vive to

protect the fundamental rights and poised to keep even scales

of justice between the citizens and the States or the States

inter se. Rule of law and judicial review are basic features of

the Constitution. As its integral constitutional structure,

independence of the judiciary is an essential attribute of rule

of law. The Constitution of India has delineated distribution of

sovereign power between the legislature, executive and

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judiciary. As members of the judiciary, the Judges exercise the

sovereign judicial power of the State. They are holders of

public offices; which are offices of public trust and in a

democracy, such as ours, the executive, the legislature and the

judiciary constitute the three pillars of the State. It was laid

down that Judges, at whatever level they may be, represent the

State and its authority. The H’ble Supreme Court reminded

that a Government founded on anything except liberty and

justice cannot stand and no nation founded on injustice can

permanently stand. Therefore, dispensation of justice is an

essential and inevitable feature in the civilized democratic

society. Maintenance of law and order requires the presence of

an efficient system of administration of criminal justice.

15.In the speech delivered on 11.12.2004, H’ble Mr. Justice M.

Katju, as the then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court –

(The Judiciary – 2005 (2) SCC Jour 37), poses the questions:

“What is the need of a judiciary? Why have a judiciary?” The

learned Justice answers that query by saying that,

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“…………….it is in the nature of things that in

every society, in every country, there are bound

to be disputes between the people, grievances of

the people and therefore, there has to be a forum

for peaceful resolution of the disputes and

peaceful ventilation of these grievances.

Otherwise, the disputes will be resolved and the

grievances will be ventilated with bombs, bullets

and sticks in a violent manner. Therefore, the

judiciary is a great safety valve. It prevents

violence. When people have some grievances,

some disputes, they come to court, they are

heard through their lawyers, the opposite parties

are heard through their lawyers and then a

decision is given. Even if the decision goes

against that person, he has the feeling that he

was given a hearing and this pacifies him.

Otherwise, if you do not hear him, then the

feeling of injustice may turn into violence.

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Therefore, the judiciary ensures peace and

tranquility in society and that is its most

important purpose.”

16.The judicial power and dispensation of justice is part of the

sovereign function. The seat of the sovereign power, that is,

the Court, has necessarily to be sustained in larger public

interest. As noticed in Baradakanta Mishra (supra), the

whole set up of a court is for the administration of justice and

the courts have to perform multifarious functions for due

administration of justice. The presiding Judge is assisted by a

complement of clerks and ministerial officers. Records have to

be maintained. In modern day administration of courts, even

electronic gadgets are used to expedite the justice delivery

system. The need for a building for a court is fundamental to

its existence. The executive agency of a State, viz., the

Government, have the constitutional duty to provide funds for

the purpose of courts from the state exchequer which is

entrusted to it under the Constitution.

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17. Access to justice is not only a matter enumerated among the

Directive Principles of State Policy which obliges the State to

secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice

on the basis of the equal opportunity, it is inherent in the

seminal doctrine of equality contained in Article 14 of the

Constitution that the State shall not deny equal protection of

the laws, as also equality before the law. The fundamental

entitlement of the citizenry to be governed by rule of law is

well engrafted even in the Preamble to the Constitution, which

requires that justice has to be secured to all the citizens.

Therefore, the society cannot afford to exclude the existence of

courts within the reasonable reach of the citizens, including

geographically. Hence, the State is duty bound to ensure the

presence of courts, as required. Any lethargy in the executive

providing the infrastructural support by delay in providing

requisite funds cannot, in any manner, satiate the

constitutional entitlement of the citizenry to have courts within

their reach. In P. Ramachandra Rao v. State of Karnataka,

[(2002) 4 SCC 578], the Apex Court categorically stated that

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the Union of India and the State Governments have to stand

reminded of their constitutional obligation to strengthen the

judiciary — quantitatively and qualitatively — by providing

requisite funds, manpower and infrastructure. The evolving

concept of carrying justice to the door steps of the citizens

have shown the forward march of legislations, including the

provision for Grama Nyayalayas. Lack of funds is no answer

for the delay in establishing and providing infrastructure,

including buildings, for courts.

18.In the aforesaid view of the matter, though the Government

could be sued to deliver back the building, the citizen who has

leased it out for housing the judicial seat, the Court,

necessarily carries the burden, even against his full will and

pleasure, of holding the building to aid the discharge of the

sovereign function of the State through the judiciary since the

need of a court in the locality is not one to which anyone could

shut eyes and order closure of courts, even if it be on a request

to vacate the premises.

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19.It was obviously in the aforesaid circumstance that the larger

public interest forced the learned District Judge and the Bar

Association to persuade the owners to wait to commence the

construction.

20.The KMBR is issued by the Government in exercise of powers

under the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994. That is a piece of

subordinate legislation. It contains regulatory provisions

intended to ensure safety and to provide a uniform set of rules

to govern construction activities. The provisions in the

different sub rules of rule 15 A of the KMBR are intended to

ensure that development permits and building permits are

obtained for bonafide purposes which are to be translated into

action by putting up the constructions or carrying out the

developments. The fixation of an outer time limit of nine years

for permits granted under the KMBR by providing that each

permit shall be valid for only three years and shall be renewed

only three times and the provision in Rule 15A (10) that the

renewal of permits issued before the commencement of KMBR

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shall be granted in such a way that the total valid period of

permit shall not exceed nine years, are essentially regulatory

and not intended to completely deprive the owners of the right

to build for all times to come. All that has to be is that the

person has to obtain a permit afresh after the expiry of the

said nine years.

21.But, the question here, in the ultimate analysis, would be

whether a regulatory provision as noticed above could be

forced on to a citizen in the backdrop of the constitutional

provisions, when he is faced with a situation of being

incapable of even commencing the construction owing to

reasons attributable to occupation of the building by the State

for discharge of its sovereign functions. But for the continued

occupation by the State for the purpose of its sovereign

functions of administering justice through the Court, the

landowners would have stood enabled to make the

construction in terms of the rules as to distance, set backs etc.

as they prevailed before the coming into force of the KMBR.

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The situation that the land owners are forced to suffer with the

passage of time and by the change of the law on the coming

into force of the KMBR, is directly and solely attributable to

the State’s inability to have a building owned at State expense,

to house the court. Such a situation, referable solely to the

need of the sovereign, should necessarily stand on a different

pedestal, supported by the constitutional excuse that the State

can ill afford to close down a court which is a matter of prime

need for We, the People.

22.The pronouncement of the Apex Court in New India

Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Nusli Neville Wadia, [(2008) 3 SCC

279] advises that for proper interpretation, not only the basic

principles of natural justice have to be borne in mind, but also

principles of constitutionalism involved therein. When literal

interpretation may lead to contradicting the constitutional

obligations, the superior courts have to interpret the statute in

a reasonable manner, placing itself in the chair of a reasonable

legislator/author and so done, apply the rules of purposive

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construction. This would strike the balance between the

constitutional perspective and setting of a legislation and its

enforcement in terms of the words contained in the legislation.

For this, the Apex Court profitably referred to Aharon Barak

on Purposive Interpretation in Law, (2007) to notice that there

are two elements of objectivity in approaching the effect of a

legislation, including its interpretation; the first being that the

interpreter should assume that the legislature is composed of

reasonable people seeking to achieve reasonable goals in a

reasonable manner; and second, the interpreter should accept

a non-rebuttable presumption that members of the legislative

body sought to fulfill their constitutional duties in good faith.

This formulation, Barak says, allows the interpreter to inquire

not into the subjective intent of the author, but rather, the

intent the author would have had, had he or she acted

reasonably.

23.In Bharat Petroleum Corpn. Ltd. v. Maddula Ratnavalli

[(2007) 6 SCC 81], the Apex Court stated as follows:

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“22. Parliament moreover is presumed to have

enacted a reasonable statute [see Breyer, Stephen

(2005): Active Liberty: Interpreting Our

Democratic Constitution, Knopf (Chapter on

Statutory Interpretation, p.99 for `Reasonable

Legislator Presumption’)].”

24.In Kailash Chand v. Dharam Dass [(2005) 5 SCC 375],

following Rakesh Wadhawan v. Jagdamba Industrial

Corporation [(2002) 5 SCC 440], the Apex Court held that a

statute can never be exhaustive and the legislature is

incapable of contemplating all possible situations which may

arise in future litigation and in myriad circumstances. The

scope is always there for the court to interpret the law with

pragmatism and consistently with the demands of varying

situations. The construction placed by the court on statutory

provisions has to be meaningful. The legislative intent has to

be found out and effectuated. It was noted that law is part of

social reality. Though law and justice are not synonymous

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terms, they have a close relationship as pointed out by

Americal Jurist Rawls, noticing that since one of the aims of

the law is to provide order and peace in society and since

order and peace cannot last long if it is based on injustice, it

follows that a legal system that cannot meet the demands of

justice will not survive long. It was laid down in Kailesh

Chandh (supra) that clearly, law cannot be so interpreted as

would cause oppression or be unjust. In Bharath Petroleum

(supra) it was further stated that a statutory order or

discretion exercised by a statutory authority must also be

decided on the angle of the constitutional scheme and

reasonableness and non-arbitrariness are the hallmarks of an

action by the State. In Bharath Petroleum (supra), the Apex

Court re-iterated the law noticed in Hindustan Petroleum

Corpn. Ltd. v. Darius shapur chenai [(2005) 7 SCC 627]

that right to property although is not a fundamental right,

nonetheless remains a constitutional right and any

expropriatory legislation must be construed strictly.

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25.Having identified a few principles of interpretation of the

Constitution and making reference to Janosik Robert J.;

Encyclopedia of American Judicial System and Cappelletti

Mauro: The Judicial Process in Comparative Prospect,

Hon’ble Mr.Justice D.N.Dharmadhikari, then Judge of the

Apex Court, concludes in The Principle of Constitutional

Interpretation; some reflections [(2004) 4 SCC Journal 1],

inter alia, as follows:

“:…………….the ultimate conclusion that can be

deduced is that no fixed principle, can beneficially

serve constitutional adjudication. Neither the

“originalists’ approach” nor “preferred freedoms

approach” nor “balancing of interests” singly or

collectively are enough for a sound constitutional

adjudication. Its main reason is that a Constitution

is composed more significantly of principles than

rules. This provides judges some amount of

discretion in the matter of interpretation of

constitutional provisions but this does not mean

that they may rely on their own value preferences

in construing constitutional provisions. As has been

stated above, constitutional provisions are

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described by some as “great generalities” and by

others as “great ambiguities”. The above

descriptions are to a great extent apt. The

provisions are ambiguous in the sense that in each

case the judge is called upon to furnish his own

meaning but they cannot be called “vague” because

they are sufficiently meaningful concepts capable

of lending guidance to enable the judge to

operationalise constitutional guarantees. It is the

function of the court to give effect to the logical

theory contained in the Constitution that animates

and binds together its provisions. The preamble of

the Indian Constitution is, therefore, generally

taken aid of to understand other provisions of the

Constitution because it may be said to contain the

“spirit of the Constitution”. The Constitution is a

document of liberal principles, predicated on the

primacy of a person’s worth. It is the function of

judges, as instruments of the Constitution’s logic,

to give effect to pre-existing individual rights in the

decisions of cases.

      The    growth     of   the    Constitution    through

      interpretation by courts,       is a necessity for

protection of the individual rights guaranteed by

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the Constitution. Power exercised by the court in

interpreting the Constitution through unelected

judges is not anti-democratic. Democracy cannot

survive in a system in which civil rights and

freedoms have no protection………………. ”

” ……………..Legitimacy of judicial interpretation of

the Constitution is the recognition that it is an

institution with ability to protect minorities against

majoritarian political, legal, economic, indeed

societal pressure and will. It is an institution which

protects and upholds “enduring values” enshrined

in the Constitution and ………………. is best placed

to discover the principles of constitutional law and

protect the constitutional rights.

On the basis of principles culled out above, an

integrated approach in interpretation of a

Constitution is required in the light of social,

economic and political necessities of a particular

period in which the court is called upon to

interpret. Previous precedents of the court are only

for guidance. The process of interpretation involves

making the Constitution a workable law or

instrument by treating it as a dynamic living

document which needs to be suitably interpreted to

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meet exigencies of different periods. Socio-

economic context in which the court is called upon

to interpret, therefore, always assumes greater

importance”.

(underlined to emphasise)

The learned Justice quotes the advice of

eminent jurist Mauro Cappelletti as follows:

“To enable the Apex Court, to more effectively deal

with important constitutional issues requiring

interpretation of Constitution, time and again, I

have made the point that it is a basic and most

dangerous policy error to design Supreme Courts,

national or otherwise, as organs bound to decide

legions of cases brought to them, at the cost of

overload and superficiality of decisions, rather than

providing them with techniques and/or protecting

them with access-screening capable of allowing

them to concentrate their decision-making activity

on cases of greater importance for the uniform

interpretation, evolution, and `modernization’ of the

law. The entire exercise of interpretation of the

constitutional provisions by the court is to make the

Constitution meaningful to the citizens of this

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country for whose betterment the Constitution is

meant.”

(underlined to emphasise)

26.The sublime process of dispute resolution, result rendition

and the presentation of the fruit of that verdict would be

optimally achieved only by the holistic administration of the

therapeutical admixture of the Constitution and the laws. The

primacy of the provisions of the Constitution and the

hierarchical superiority that primary legislations have over

subordinate rules often lead to questions as to whether the

subordinate legislations are in conflict with primary

enactments and whether either or both of them contradict the

constitutional provisions and principles. While it may be true

that the primary enactments and subordinate legislations

which are held to be intravires are to be enforced without any

consideration as to any inconvenience that such enforcements

may result in the sustainable balancing of the cause and effect

of such enforcement vis.a.vis. the situational conspectus in the

constitutional angle would provide the true vision to render

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justice in accordance with the Constitution and laws. The

wholesomeness of the justice delivery system depends on the

balancing of the primary enactments and subordinate

legislations, if any, with the provisions and principles of the

Constitution, which is the vision document of the society.

Therefore, the courts, in the exercise of rendering justice, are

duty bound to maintain the optimal balance between the

Constitution and the laws subservient thereto, to ensure that

justice in accordance with the Constitution and the laws is

administered upholding the rule of law.

27.With the aforesaid, striking a balance between the

unsurmountable sovereign need of the State to continue to

remain in occupation of the building in question for housing

the sub court and the constitutional right of the owners to

have carried out the construction/re-construction of the

building in terms of the building permit, it cannot but be held

that the owners ought not to be compelled to suffer a

situational oppression for no fault of theirs. The Constitution

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28

does not envisage such sufferance. Nor does the reasonable

legislator, standing under the constitutional vision. Never, the

subordinate rules; for, they have no room to leap beyond the

parent statutes and the Constitution. The context is one

where the owners deserve to be constitutionally protected

against the enforcement of the time limit fixed in Rule 15 A(2)

of the KMBR, which is only part of the subsidiary rules under

the Kerala Municipality Act, 1999. The one in hand is an

extra-ordinary situation warranting extra-ordinary remedies to

deal with the fact situation in hand. Hence, issuance of a writ

is called for, not in contradiction of the KMBR, but to ensure

that the relevant rule works in consonance with the

constitutional goals and within the frame work of the

Constitution and to prevent the occurrence of an event which

the reasonable legislator under the constitutional gaze would

never permit.

28.In the result, this writ petition is ordered directing that the

application of the petitioner and co-owners for renewal of the

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building permit which was live till 26.7.2008, shall be

considered and ordered granting them a further period of

three years from the date on which the existing building is

vacated by the State by housing the sub court elsewhere, to

complete the construction.

The office will ensure that a copy of this judgment is placed

before the learned District Judge also on the administrative

side for perusal.

Sd/-

THOTTATHIL B RADHAKRISHNAN,
Judge.

kkb.