‘Act of duality on part of a person is nothing but dubious’
SRINAGAR, NOV 01: Observing that an act of duality on the part of a person in his conduct vis-à-vis another person is nothing but dubious which no law can cherish, the High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Wednesday upheld its single bench’s verdict, dismissing a petition by Pervaiz Ahmad Negroo, challenging his dismissal as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Board of Directors of the Bank in 2019.
Pervaiz had challenged a communication (no.FD/Bkg/21/2019) on June 8, 2019 addressed by the Additional Secretary to the Government, Finance Department of the erstwhile State, to the Company Secretary J&K Bank Limited, conveying the decisions of the Government that he shall cease to be the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Board of Directors of the Bank. By same communication, the government had nominated R. K. Chibber as Director on the Board and his appointment as the interim Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Board and Bank.
Pervaiz had claimed that the communications, orders, actions of the government are arbitrary, illegal and in utter disregard of the Banking Regulation Act, Articles of Association of the Bank and the Service Manual of the Bank.
Pervaiz had submitted that termination of the tenure post of Chairman and CEO required the mandatory prior approval of the RBI in terms of Section 35B of the BR Act and that its provisions have an overriding effect over the Articles of Association of any Banking Company or any resolution passed by any Banking Company. However his contention was rejected by the Court’s single bench on November 11 last year. The order was challenged by him before the Division Bench.
“Having regard to the whole gamut of pleadings, rival submissions and the perusal of the record as well as the impugned judgment, we are of the considered opinion that the learned Single Judge has decided the matter perfectly in consonance with law after a threadbare discussion on all aspects of the case,” said a Division Bench of Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice M.A. Chowdhary.
“(The Single Bench) has rightly held that the appointment of the appellant/petitioner as Chairman/CEO of the Bank was contractual in its nature and, as such, there being no applicability of the service law, a writ is not maintainable to the extent of determining his removal as Government nominee Director, Chairman/CEO of the respondent no.2-J&K Bank and his continuance from a career level post to board level post is not being amenable to writ jurisdiction, is not maintainable,” the court said, adding, “No case is made out by the appellant/petitioner (Pervaiz) which warrants any interference in the judgment passed by the writ court (single bench) which is upheld.”
Earlier the court also observed that the filing of writ petition and after judgment and further challenge through the instant intra court appeal and also simultaneously reconciling to the decisions taken by the respondents (authorities), was a classic display of the principle of “Approbate and Reprobate” on the part of Pervaiz. “This principle of “Approbate and Reprobate” if put into a common understanding means that a person shall not be allowed to blow hot and cold in terms of his/her relationship/position vis-à-vis other person, who get related to said relationship/position,” the court said, adding, “This principle aims to mean, that an act of duality on the part of a person in his conduct/relationship vis-à-vis another person is nothing but dubious which no law can cherish.”
