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Gottumukkala Venkata Krishamraju v. Union of India

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2018 INSC 797Decided 7 Sept 2018
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 732 of 2018
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

The petitioners were serving as Presiding Officers of Debts Recovery Tribunals under the Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 (later renamed the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act). A 2016 amendment to Section 6 of the Act changed the term of office/retirement-age provisions for Presiding Officers, and a dispute arose over whether this amended, more favourable provision applied to officers who were already serving in the post on the date the amendment took effect, or only to those appointed afterward. The writ petition and several transferred cases from different High Courts raised this common question.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Parliament intended the benefit of the amended Section 6 to extend even to Presiding Officers already in service when the amendment came into force, reasoning that this was the "just, reasonable and sensible" reading consistent with the statute's purpose of reducing case backlogs in the tribunals. It distinguished a precedent relied on by the Union of India (concerning a differently-worded, purely prospective amendment) as inapplicable, and drew support from the contrast between amended Section 6 and the newly inserted Section 6A, which did expressly distinguish incumbent officers from future appointees. Accordingly, it allowed the writ petition and the transferred cases, directing that the lead petitioner be reinstated immediately with continuity of service and back salary for the intervening period, and that other petitioners already under interim protection be allowed to continue.

Lesson Learnt

When a statute is amended to make it more beneficial for government/tribunal officeholders, courts will look at the amendment's underlying purpose and the statute's overall scheme to decide whether it was meant to apply to people already in service, rather than assuming it only applies going forward.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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