Holding

The later Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions and Securities) Act, 1992, has overriding effect over the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, and the higher rate of interest awarded is permissible.

Summary

Solidaire India Ltd. had taken three loans from Fairgrowth Financial Services Ltd. and claimed that the agreed interest rate was 18% per annum. The Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions and Securities) Act, 1992, awarded interest at 21.5% and 23% respectively, which the appellant contested. The appellant also argued that, because it was declared a sick industrial company, proceedings under the 1992 Act should be stayed in view of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985. The Supreme Court held that there was no formal loan agreement fixing the rate, and the higher interest claimed by the respondent was not infirm, as the appellant’s belated objection did not invalidate the claim. It further held that when two special statutes contain non‑obstante clauses, the later statute (the 1992 Act) prevails over the earlier 1985 Act, giving the Special Court overriding authority. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed with costs.

Issues considered

Whether the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions and Securities) Act, 1992, could award interest higher than the 18% claimed by the appellant in the absence of a formal agreement.
Whether the provisions of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, bar the initiation or continuation of recovery proceedings under the 1992 Special Court Act.
Which special statute prevails when both contain non‑obstante clauses – the earlier 1985 Act or the later 1992 Act.

Legislation cited

Subjects

interest ratespecial statutesoverriding effectnon‑obstante clausesick industrial companyloan recoverystatutory interpretationhigher interest award

Judgment

A . SOLIDAIRE INDIA LTD.
v.
FAIRGROWTH FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD. AND ORS.
•
FEBRUARY 7, 2001

B [B.N. KIRPAL, RUMA PAL AND BRIJESH KUMAR, JJ.]

Special Court (Trial ofOffences Relating to Transactions and Securities)
~ -
Act, 1992-Seclion 13-Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act,
1985-Section 32 (/)-Appellant claimed to have colllracted loan at the
c rate of 18 per cent p.a.-Decree passed at a higher rate for non-repayment
of loan inspite of the fact that appellant had declared itself sick and relevant
proceedings were 011-0n appeal Held, application of higher rate of interest
permissible as there was no formal agreement and a claim to a higher rate
had not been immediately refi1ted by the appellant in its correspondence-
Both the Acts are Special Acts. However the 1992 Act would have an
D
overriding effect, as the legislature never intended to permit appiication of
the 1985 Act even if proceedings in respect of a company may be going on
before the B./. F. R.
)..
lnterpre/alion o/Statutes--Overriding effect a/Special Acts-Held, later
E Special Act would prevail over the earlier Special Act.

Appellant contracted three loans of Rs. 50 Iakhs, Rs. 25 lakhs and Rs.
25 lakhs respectively from the respondent and claime_d that 18 per cent p.a.
was agreed as the rate of interest. The repayments were not made and
proceedings were initiated under the Special Court(frial of Offences Relating ~
F to Transactions and Securities) Act, 1992. A decree was passed by the Speeial
Court at a higher rate of interest, in spite of the fact that proceedings were
going on under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special provisions) Act, 1985
in respect of the appellant. Hence this appeal.

G Appellant contended that awarding interest at a rate higher than 18
per cent was impermissible, and that in view of the provisions of the Sick
Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 no proceedings should ~
have been initiated or continued by the Special Court.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court
H 932
,-

SOLIDAIRE INDIA LTD. 1•. FJ\IKGROWTH FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD. 933
-
"""' . ,
'
HELD: I. It appears that there was 1w formal agreenient, which had A
been entered into between the parties at the time when the loan was advanced.
The correspondence, which has been placed on record, clearly indicates that
the respondent had claimed interest at the rate of 21.5 per cent p.a. on the
loan of Rs. 50 lakhs first advanced and on the balance amount the claim was
for 23 per cent p.a. There is no document on record to show that the amount
of interest claimed was immediately refuted, though it was belatedly refuted B
~ by the appellant. There is no infirmity in the decision of the Special Court as
regards the rate of interest. (935-B-CI

2. The effect of Section 32(1) of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special
Provisions) Act, 1985 is that the Act will have effect notwithstanding anything
inconsistent therewith contained in any other law except to the provisions of
c
j_ the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 and the urban Land (Ceilling
and Regulation) Act, 1976. A similar non-obstante provision is contained in
Section 13 of the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions
and Securities) Acts, 1992. It is clear that both these Acts are special \cts
and it has been laid down in no uncertain terms that in such an event it is the D
later Act which .must prevail. It is clear that there was no intention of the
legislature to permit the 1985 Act to apply notwithstanding the fact that
' ~

......
' proceedings in respect of a company may be going on before the 8.1.F.R. The
1992 Act is to have an overriding effect notwithstanding any provision to the
contrary in another Act. (935-F; 938-C-DI
... E
Maharashtra Tubes Ltd.. v. State Industrial & Investment Corporation
of Maharashtra Ltd. & Anr., (19931 2 SCC 144; Sarwan Singh & Anr. v.
Kasturi Lal, 119771 2 SCR 421; Allahabad Bank v. Canara Bank&. Anr.,
120001 4 SCC 406 and Shri Ram Narain v. The Simla Banking Industrial Co.
limited, (19561 SCR 603, relied on. F
Bhoruka Steel Ltd. v. Fairgrowth Financial Services ltd., (1997) V. 89
Company Cases 547, approved.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3760 of
1995. G
;.
From the Judgment and Order dated 16.2.95 of the Special Court, (Trial
of Offences Relating to Transactions and Securities) at Bombay, in Misc. P.
No. 70 of 1994.

A. Subba Rao and Dr. A. Francis Julian for Mis. Arputham Aruna & Co. H

----.---
934 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [200 I] I S.C.R.

A Advs. for the Appellant. ,... ....
Altaf Ahmed, Additional Solictor General, T.C. Sharma, P. Parmeswaran,
Ms. Sushma Suri, Shiraz Rustomjee, Mustafa S. Doctor, K. Subba Rao and
A.T. Rao for the Respondents.

B The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

KIRPAL, J. The appellant herein on 3rd March, 1992, 20th March, 1992
and 25th March, 1992 took a loan of Rs. 50 lakhs, Rs. 25 lakhs and Rs. 25 lakhs
respectively from respondent No. I. According to the appellant, the agreement
... -
was to repay the loan amount within three years together with interest at 18
c per cent per annum.

Repayment not having been made and respondent No. I having been
notified under Section 3 of the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to
Transactions and Securities) Act, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as "Special
Court Act"), proceedings were initiated by the Custodian before the Special
D Court for the recovery of the said money.

There was no dispute before the Special Court with regard to the fact
that Rs. 1 crore had been taken on loan by the appellant. The claim against
the appellant before the Special Court was for a sum of Rs. 1,57,20,216.24 >
E consisting of principal plus interest. The main contention raised before the
Special Court related to the rate of interest. The respondent had claimed
interest at the rate of 21.5 per cent on the amount of Rs. 50 lakhs and 23 per
cent on the two loans of Rs. 25 lakhs each. The Special Court came to the
conclusion that the appellant herein had been put to notice by the Custodian
as far back as 3rd June, 1993 that if it did not deposit the amount it will
F become liable to pay interest at a higher rate and the payment had not been
made. The Special Court came to the conclusion that the claim of interest
made by the respondent was justified. The suit of the respondent was,
accordingly, decreed as prayed for alongwith costs.

During the pendency of this appeal, a further development had taken
G
place and that is that the appellant has become sick and proceedings are
going on under the provisions of The Sick Industrial Companies (Special ~
Provisions) Act, 1985.

It is contended on behalf of the appellant that firstly, the Special Court
H was not justified in awarding interest in excess of 18 per cent and the second
SOLIDAIRE INDIA LTD,v FAIRGROWTH FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD. [KIRPAL, J.] 935

contention was that in view of the special provisions contained in the Sick A
Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 no proceedines should
have been initiated or continued under the Special Court Act.

As far as the question of interest is concerned, it appears that there was
no formal agreement which had entered into between the parties at the time
when the loan was advanced in March, 1992. The correspondence which has B
been placed on record, however, clearly indicates that the respondent had
claimed interest at ·the rate of 21.5 per cent on the loan of Rs. 50 lakhs first
advanced and on the balance amount the claim was of 23 per cent. There is
no document on the record to show that the amount of interest claimed was
immediately refuted, though it was belatedly refuted by the appellant. We do C
not find any infirmity in the decision of the Special Court in coming to the
conclusion that the appellant was liable to pay the rate of interest as claimed
by the respondent.

Coming to the second question, there is no doubt that the 1985 Act is
a special Act. Section 32( 1) of the said Act reads as follows: D
"32. Effect of the Act on other laws-(!) The provisions of this
Act and of any rules or schemes made thereunder shall have effect
notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any
other law except the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation
Act, 1973 (46of1973) and the Urban Land (Ceilling and Regulation) E
Act, 1976 (33 of 1976) for the time being in force or in the Memorandum
or Articles of Association of an industrial company or in any other
instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act."
The effect of this .Provision is that the said Act will have effect
notwithsta11ding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law F
except to the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 and
the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976. A similar non-obstante
provision is contained in Section 13 of the Special Court Act which reads as
follows:

"13. Act to have overriding effect-The provisions of this Act G
shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith
contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any
instrument having effect by virtue of any law, other than this Act, or
in any decree or order of any court, tribunal or other authority."

It is clear that both these Acts are special Acts. This Court has laid H
936 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [200 I] I S.C.R.

A down in no uncertain terms that iii such an event it is the later Act which
must prevail. The decisions cited in the above context are as follows:
Maharashtra Tubes ltd. v. State Industrial & Investment Corporation of
Maharashtra ltd & Anr., (1993] 2 SCC 144; Sarwan Singh & Anr. v. Kaslllri
Lal, (1977] 2 SCR 421; Allahabad Bank v. Canara Bank & Anr., (2000] 4 SCC
406 and Shri Ram Narain v. The Simla Banking Industrial Co. Limited,
B [1956] SCR603.

We may notice that the Special Court had in another case dealt with a
similar contention. In Bhoruka Steel ltd v. Fairgrowth Financial Services
ltd., (1997] v. 89 Company Cases 547, it had been contended that recovery
C proceedings under the Special Cou1t Act should be stayed in view of the
provisions of the 1985 Act. Rejecting this contention, the Special Court had
come to the conclusion that the Special Court Act being a later enactment
would prevail. The head-note which brings out succinctly the ratio of the said
decision is as follows :

D "Where there are two special statutes which contain non-obstante
clauses the later statute must prevail. This is because at the time of
enactment of the later statute, the Legislature was aware of the earlier
legislation and its non-obstante clause. If the Legislature still confers
the later enactment with a non-obstante clause it means that the
Legislature wanted that enactment to prevail. If the Legislature does
E not want the later enactment to prevail then it could and would
provide in the later enactment that the provisions of the earlier
enactment continue to apply.

The Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions and
Securities) Act, 1992, provides in Section 13, that its provisions are
F
to prevail over any other Act. Being a later enactment, it would prevail
over the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985.
Had the Legislature wanted to exclude the provisions of the Sick
Companies Act from the ambit of the said Act, the Legislature would
have specifically so provided. The fact that the Legislature did not
G specifically so provide necessarily means that the Legislature intended
that the provisions cf the said Act were to prevail even over the
provisions of the Sick Companies Act.
Under Section 3 of the 1992 Act, all property of notified persons
is to stand attached. Under Section 3(4), it is only the Special Court
H which can give directions to the custodian in respect of property of
SOLi DAiRE INDIA LTD. v. FAIRGROWTH FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD. [KIRPAL, J.] 937

the notified party. Similarly, under Section 11(1), the Special Court can A
_...., give directions regarding property of a notified party. Under Section
-j.:
11 (2), the Special Court is to distribute the assets of the notified party
in the manner set out thereunder. Monies payable to the notified
parties are assets of the notified party and are, therefore, assets which
stand attached. These are assets which have· to be collected by the
Special Court for the purposes of distribution under Section 11 (2). B
The distribution can only take place provided the assets are first
- ~ collected. The whole aim of these provisions is to ensure that monies
which are siphoned off from banks and financial institutions into
private pockets are returned to the banks ind financial institutions.
The time and manner of distribution is to be decided by the Special c
Court only. Under Section 22 of the 1985 Act, recovery proceedings
can only be with the consent of the Board for Industrial and Financial
Reconstruction or the Appellate Authority under that Act. The
Legislature being aware of the provisions of Section 22 under the 1985
Act still empowered only the Special Court under the 1992 Act to give
directions to recover and to distribute the assets of the notified D
persons in the manner set down under section 11 (2) of the 1992 Act.
This can only mean that the Legislature wanted the provisions of
Section 11 (2) of the 1992 Act to prevail over the provisions of any
~ other law including those of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special
Provisions) Act, I 985. E
It is a settled rule of interpretation that if one construction leads
to a conflict, whereas on another construction, two Acts can be
harmoniously constructed then the latter must be adopted. If an
interpretation is given that the Sick Industrial Companies (Special
Provisions) Act, 1985, is to prevail then there would be a clear conflict. F
>- However, there would be no conflict if it is held that the 1992 Act is
to prevail. On such an interpretation the objects of both would be
fulfilled and there would be no conflict. It is clear that the Legislature
intended that public monies should be recovered first even from sick
companies. Provided the sick company was in a position to first pay
back the public money, there would be no difficulty in reconstruction. G
The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction against
~ considering a scheme for reconstruction has to keep in mind the fact
that it is to be paid off or directed by the Special Court. The Special
Court can, if it is convinced grant time or instalments.
There can, therefore, be no stay of any proceedings for recovery H
938 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (200 I) I S.C.R.

A against a sick company so far as the Special Court under the· 1992 Act
is concerned."

We are in agreement with the aforesaid decision or the case, more
so when we find that whenever the Legislature wishes to do so it makes
appropriate provisions in the Act in that behalf. Mrs. Shiraz Rustomjee has
B drawn our attention to Section 34 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and
Financial Institutions Act, 1993 wherein after giving an overriding effect to
the 1993 Act it is specifically provided that the said Act will be in addition
to and not in derogation of a number of other Acts including the 1985 Act.
Similarly under Section 32 of the 1985 Act the applicability of the Foreign
C Exchange Regulation Act and the Urban Land Ceiling Act is not excluded. It
is clear that in the instant case there was no intention of the Legislature to
permit the 1985 Act to apply notwithstanding the fact that proceedings in
re>pect of a company may be going on before the B.l.F.R. The 1992 Act is
to have an overriding effect notwithstanding any provision to the contrary
in another Act.
D
For the aforesaid reasons, we do not find any merit in this appeal. The
appeal is dismissed with costs.

A.Q. Appeal dismissed.