Supreme Court of India
PUNJAB COMMUNICATIONS LTD.versusUNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
- Citation
- 1999 INSC 219
- Decided
- 4 May 1999
- Disposal
- Dismissed
- Bench
- S B MAJMUDAR
Holding
The change in policy was not irrational or perverse, the appellant's substantive legitimate expectation was not violated, and the appeals and transfer petition were dismissed.
Summary
Punjab Communications Ltd (PCL) had been shortlisted for a digital wireless telecom tender in Eastern Uttar Pradesh that was to be funded by an Asian Development Bank (ADB) soft loan. PCL alleged that senior officials conspired to sabotage the loan and the tender so that a multinational could supply an outdated analog system, and claimed a substantive legitimate expectation that the original tender would be honoured. While the case was pending, the ADB loan was withdrawn, the original tender cancelled, and the Government announced a new nationwide rural telecom scheme using its own funds. The Supreme Court held that, because the loan and tender were no longer viable, the alleged fraud became a non‑issue and that the change in policy was not irrational or perverse under the Wednesbury test, so PCL's legitimate expectation was not infringed. Consequently, the appeals and the transfer petition were dismissed.
Issues considered
- Whether the Court should adjudicate the alleged fraud and give directions on the ADB‑funded tender after the loan was withdrawn.
- Whether the change in government policy from a region‑specific tender to a nationwide rural telecom scheme defeats the appellant's substantive legitimate expectation.
- Whether the change in policy is irrational or perverse under the Wednesbury principle, warranting judicial intervention.
Legislation cited
- Constitution of Indias. Article 136
Subjects
administrative lawlegitimate expectationWednesbury principlefraudpublic policyADB loantelecom tenderjudicial review
Judgment
PUNJAB COMMUNICATIONS LTD. A
v.
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
MAY 4, 1999
(S.B. MAJMUDAR AND M. JAGANNADHA RAO, JJ.] B
Administrative Law:
Doctrine of legitimate expectation-Change in public policy-
Applicability of-Policy decision taken by the Government to provide digital C
wireless telecom facility in Eastern U.P. on the basis of ADB loan-Tender
invited and appellant along with another company shortlisted-Allegation
of appellant that certain officers of the Government played fraud to see that
the ADB loans either lapse or stand withdrawn to favour a multinational
company who wanted to dump outmoded technology in India-Subsequently,
Government took another policy decision to provide digital telecom facility D
not only to Eastern UP. but other rural areas of various States-Held,
changed policy decision was neither irrational or perverse on the basis of
the underlining Principles and hence Govt. was not bound by its earlier
policy decision-Such policy can be changed by the Decision-makers in
overriding public interest-However, change in policy defeating the E
substantive legitimate expectation 111us1 satisfy the test of reasonableness and
the Court can interfere if the change of policy is irrational or perverse-
Wednes bury principle-Government contracts-Fraud-Legitimate
expectation.
Administrative action-Allegation of fraud-Official decision should F
not be infected with motives such as fraud or dishonesty, malice or personal
self-interest-There can be any cause of action on the basis of an attempt at
fraud, which did not materialise.
Practice and Procedures-SLP-lnfructuous issues-Subsequent G
issues-Regard for-Issues live before the High Court become non-issue due
to subsequent events during the pendency of the appeal-Must be taken into
consideration-Constitution of India, Article 136.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to grant a soft loan to
respondent No. 1 for funding a project meant to provide digital wireless H
1033
·1034 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ' [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A telecom facility to 36,000 identified villages in Eastern U.P. Accordingly,
Department of Telecommunication (DOT) floated a tender inviting offers
from foreign and Indian companies. On evaluation of the offer, appellant and
BEL was shortlisted by the Tender Evaluation Committee. It was the case of
the appellant that on account of some pressure b~ought on Respondent 5
(Member, Telecom Commission) and Respondent No. 6 (Advisor, Telecom
B Commission), the matter was referred to a High Level committee; with a view
to obtain an opinion to disqualify the appellan! so that the DOT could go in
for outmoded ."analog" system ratJter than the current "digital" system to
be provided to a multinational company whiCh was wanting to dump its
outmoded "analog" system to India. This .idea was to issue fresh notification.
C inviting tender for this "analog" system. The appellant made representation
to respondent No. 2 but an order cancelling the tender was passed. The
-
appellant therefore, challenged the order cancelling the tender in a writ
petition before the High Court and the same was dismissed. Review petition
was also dismissed by the High Court. Hence this appeal. During the pendency
of this appeal, the ADB loan, on which the tender was based, stood withdrawn.
D Therefore, the previous tenders were cancelled. DOT .
informed the finance
I
Ministry that it would not avail the loan and had decided to fund the Rural
Telecom Project through its own resources. This Court was informed that
the Government was thinking of calling for fresh tenders for installation of
telephones under a new scheme for rural areas spread over different States•.
E Accordingly a new tender was floated in which appellant was also participating.
It was submitted by the appellant that in spite of the developments
subsequent to the filing of this appeal, various officers conspired and played
fraud in order that the ADB loans either lapsed or stood withdrawn, that the
appellant had a legitimate expectation of a substantive nature, that, even if
F the Government wanted to put its own funds, the original tender notification
would require to be processed for the benefit of Eastern U.P.; and that the
· respondents cannot change the policy to benefit the rural areas in the whole
country and abandon the tender notification for Eastern U.P.
Dismissing the appeal, this Court
G
HELD : 1. The issues, which were live when the writ petition of the
appellant was pending in the High Court, have now lost all their relevance.
The entire tender was based on the Asian development Bank (ADB) loan. If
-
the ADB loan itself has now stood withdrawn, there is now no possibility of
H the ADB loan project for Eastern U.P. being started or completed. It will be 1-
(
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.O.I. 1035
well nigh be impossible to issue any directions to the Union oflndia to seek A
a renewal of the lapsed loan or to issue any directions to continue the project
for Eastern U.P. on the basis of the ADB loan. This Court cannot give
findings on issues, which have become non-issue now after the withdrawal
of the ADB loan. A question of fraud was also raised. But once the ADB loan
is withdrawn that question has also become a non-issue. The position is that
in respect of the ADB loan project, no fresh tenders based on "analog" B
system have been_ invited nor has nay multinational company been awarded
any contract based on outmoded analog system. The said question of fraud
is no longer relevant. On all these issues the Court should not be understood
as having expressed any opinion. Further, there cannot be a cause of action
on the basis of an "attempt at fraud" which did not materialise. It is true that C
it is fundamental to the· legitimacy of public decision-making that official
decisions should not be infected with motives such as fraud (or dishonesty)
malice or personal self-interest. Duty to act in good faith is inherent in the
process and there may be distinction between fraud in public law and private
law, but all these legal principles are not relevant if the so-called or alleged
attempt at fraud did not fructify. It is therefore, not worthwhile to go into the D
question of fraud either. However, this Court should not be understood as
having decided anything on the merits of these questions.
(1046-F-G; 1047-A-E)
Shrisht Dhawan v. Shaw Bros., [1992) 1 SCC 534, referred to.
E
2.1. The principle of "legitimate expectation" is still at a stage of
evolution. The principle is at the root of the rule of law and requires
regulario/, predictability and certainty in the Government's dealings with the
public. The proced1;1ral part of it relates to a representation that a hearing
or other appropriate procedure will be afforded before the decision is made.
The substantive part of the principle is that if a representation is made that F·
a benefit of a substantive nature will be granted or if the person is already
in receipt of the benefit that it will be continued and not be substantially
varied, then the same could be enforced. The doctrine of legitimate expectation
in the substantive sense has been accepted as part of our law. The decision-
maker can normally be compelled to give effect to his representation in G
regard to the expectation based on previous practice or past conduct unless
some overriding public interest comes in the way.
(1048-B-C; 1049 C-D; 1055-B-D)
Navjyoti Coop. Group Housing Society v. Union of India, [19921 4
SCC 477; Food Corporation of India v. Kamdhenu Cattle Feed Industries, H
1036 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999) 2 S.C.R.
A (1993) 1 SCC 71; Union of India v. Hindustan Development Corporation,
(1993] 3 SCC 499; Madras City Wine Merchant's Association v. State of ---
Tamil Nadu, (1994] 5 SCC 509; MP. Oil Extractio11 v. State of Madhya
Pradesh, (1997] 7 SCC 592 and National Building Construction corporation
v. S. Raghunathan, (1998] 7 SCC 66, relied on.
B Preston, In re, (1985) AC 835; Schmidt v. Secretary of State for Home
Affairs, (1969)° 2 ch 149; Attorney General of Hong Kong v. Ng Yuen Shiu,
(1983) 2 AC 629; Attorney Genef'al for New South Wales v. Quin, (1990) 64
Aust. LJR 327; R. Secy. of State for Home Deptt., ex parte Ruddock, (1987)
2 All ER 518; Breen Amalgamated Engineering Union, (1971) I All ER
C 1148; R. v. Inland Revenue Commissioner exparte MFK Underwriting Agents
Ltd. & Ors. (1990) 1 WLR 1545; Pierson v. Secy. of State, (1997) 3 All ER
577; Council of Civil Service Union v. Minister for Civil Service, (1985) AC
374; Attorney Genera/for New South Wales v. Quin, (1990) 93 Aust. LR 1;
Canada Assistance Plan, Re, (1991) 83 DLR (4th) 297 (1991]2 SCR 525;
Connon v. Minister for the Marine, (1991) 1 IR 82; Findlay1 Re, (1985) AC
D 318; Hughes v. Deptt. of Health & Social Security, (1985) AC 776: (1985)
2 WLR 866; R. v. Inland Revenur Commissioners, ex parte Unilever Pie.,
(1996) 68 TC 205; (1996) STC 681; R. v. Secy. of State for Home Deptt.,ex
parte Asif Mahmood Kha, (1984) I WLR 1337 and Minister for Ethnic
Affairs v. Teoh, (1995) 69 Aust. LJR, referred to.
E De Smith's Administrative Law (5th Edn.) (para 8. 038); Diecy :
Introduction to the Study of the Law of Constitution, (10th Edn.) 1959, p.
203): Wade: Administrative Laws, (7th Edn.) (PP. 418-419); Dotan: why
Administrators should be Bound by Their Policies (Vol. 17) 1997 Oxford
Journal of Legal Studies p. 23; -'The Rule of Law as the Rule of Reason:
F Consent and Constitutionalism" in (1999) 115 LQR 221 at 234 "Fairness
is both procedural and Substantive": Due Process and Fair Procedure by
D.J. Gallagham (1996); and at page 242 quoting Dicey (1959) at page 203-
204, referred to
2.2. However, the important aspect is whether the decision-maker can
G sustain the change in policy by resort to Wednesbury principles of rationality
or whether the court can go into the question whether the decision-maker
has properly balanced the legitimate expectation as against the need for a
change. In the latter case the court would obviously be able to go into the
proportionality of the policy. A change in policy can defeat a substantive
-
legitimate expectation if it can be justified on Wednesbury reasonableness.
H In sum, this means that the judgement whether the public interest overrides
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.O.L 1037
the substantive legitimate expectation of individuals will be for the decision- A
maker and not for the court. The legitimate substantive expectation merely
permits the court to find out ifthe change in policy, which is the cause for
defeating the legitimate expectation, is irrational or perverse or one, which
no reasonable person could have made. [1055-E-F; 1057-B-D; 1058-B-C)
M..P. Oil Extraction v. State of Madhya Pradesh, [1997) 7 SCC 592 and B
National Buildings Construction Corporation v. S. Raghunathan, [1998) 7
sec 66, relied on.
R. v. Secy. of State for Transport, ex parte Richmond upon Thames
London BC (1994) 1 WLR 74; R. v. Ministry of Agriculture,Fishries and
Food, ex parte Hamb/e (Offshore) Fisheries Ltd., (1995) 2 All ER 714; R. v. C
Secy. ofState for the Home Deptt., ex parte Hargreaves, (1997) 1WLR906;
R. v. Inland Revenue Commissioners, ex parte Unilever Pie., (1996) 68 TC
205; R. v. Cardijf County Council, ex parte Scars Group Properties Ltd.,
(1998) Public Law 518 and McPhee v. North Lanarkshine Council, 1998 SLT
1317, referred to. D
2.3. It cannot be said on the facts of this case tl!at the substantive
legitimate expectations of the appellant have been contravened. At one stage
when the ADB loan lapsed, the Government took a decision to go ahead with
the projects on its own funds. But later it thought that the scheme regarding
telephones in rural areas must cover only the villages in Eastern U.P. but E
also in other backward areas in other States. The statistics given in the
counter affidavits of the Union of India showed that there are other States
in the country where the percentage of telephones is far less than it is in
Eastern U.P. Such a change in policy cannot be said to the irrational or
F
-
perverse according to Wednesbury principles. In the circumstances, on the
basis of th.e clear principles laid down in Hargreaves and Unilever, the
Wednesbury principles of irrationality or perversity is not attracted and th':_
• revised policy cannot be said to be in such gross violation of any substantive
legitimate expectation of the appellant which warrants interference in judicial
review proceedings. [1058-F-H; 1059-C-FJ
G
R.. v. Secy. of State for the Home Dept!., ex parte Hargreaves, (1997)
1 WLR 906 and R. v. Inland Revem:e commissioners, ex parte Unilever Pie.
(1996) 68 TC 205, referred to.
CIVIL APP ELLA TE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 2685-
2686 of 1999. H
1038 SUPREME COURT RE~ORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A From the Judgment and Order dated 27.2.98 and 19.3.98 of the Punjab
& Haryana High Court in CWP No. 124/98 and RA 138/98 respectively.
D.D. Thakur, Dr. Rajiv Dhawan and P.C. Jain, Amar Vivek, Prem Malhotra,
Dhruv Mehta, Shivram, Arvind K. Shanna, R.B. Misra, S.K. Sabharwal, Kuldip
Singh and R.S. Sodhi for the Appearing parties.
B ~·
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J. Leave granted.
These two appeals have been filed by the Punjab Communications Ltd
C (hereinafter called the 'PCL'), a public-sector undertaking of the State of -....
Punjab against the judgment dated 27 .2.1998 of the High Court of Punjab &
Haryana in CWP No.124of1998 and against the order in the review application
dated 19.3.1998 in RA 138of1998. The Transfer Petition (C) No. 680of1998 ~
is filed by Sri D.P. Srivastava for transfer of a public interest writ petition No.
D 4112 M/B of 1997 from the Allahabad High Court to this Court as some points
"are common to the appeals and the writ petition.
Though the main judgment in the writ petition has been rendered by the
High Court on 27 .2.1998, tke events which have taken place during the
pendency of these appeals have changed the complexion of the case and,
E according to the respondent-Union of India,_Jhe writ petition has practically
become infructuous and no relief can be gr'1.ted. We shall narrate the facts
which have given rise to the writ petition and shall also refer to the subsequent
events.
In September 1993, the Asian Development Bank (hereinafter called the
F 'ADB') agreed to grant a soft loan of US$ 113 m to the Union of India (1st
respondent) for funding a project rneant to provide digital wireless telecom
facility to 36,000 identified villages in Eastern U.P. The Department of Tele-
communications (hereinafter called 'DOT') floated a tender on 9.10.1996 inviting
offer~ open to Indian and foreign companies. There were 14 offers including
G one from the appellant. The Technical Evaluation Committee (hereinafter called
the 'TEC') examined the offers and wherever there were deviations in the
offers that were made, the TEC sought clarifications on 3.6.1997 from the
bidders to be given by 10.6.1997. The appellant replied and resubmitted the
"proveness" certificates which were included in the original bid pagers at
pages 226 to 228. This was a certificate dated 28.2.1997 issued by the Chinese
-
H Post and Telecommunication Department where the technology submitted by
.,
f'
PB.COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.0.t [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1039
the appellant was stated to have been implemented. After scrutiny, the TEC A
--- short-listed the appellant (PCL) and BEL on 7.7.1997. It is the appellant's case
that on account of some pressure brought on respondents 5 (Member (P)
Telecom Commission) DOT and Respondent 6 (Advisor (T) Telecom
Commission) DOT, the matter was referred by the 5th respondent to a High
Level Committee, with a view to obtain an opinion disqualifying the appellant
so that the Department could go in for an outmoded 'analog' system (rather B
-..,__
than the current 'digital' system) to be provided by some multinational company
which was wanting to dump its outmoded 'analog' system in the India. It is
the appellant's case that this was done with a view to enable the issue of a
fresh notification ·calling for fresh tenders pertaining to 'analog' system. It
appears that on 23.9.1997, the above said High Level Committee submitted its c
report stating that there were two 'deviations' in the tenders submitted by the
appellant as noticed by the Technical Evaluation Committee in respect of the
--- required speci'fications. The Committee required the department to negotiate
orally with the appellant. It is the appellant's contention that at an extremely
short notice of2 days, a niock negotiation was held on 29~10.1997, and some
oral questions were asked. It is said that the appellant had answered all these D
questions put by the respondents by means of the appellant's documents
already on record but these were not accepted. According to the appellant
no agreed minutes were recorded. On 19.11.1997, a note signed by the 6th
respondent, the convenor of the High Level Committee, was prepared stating
that the further Technical Evaluation of the project was likely to go beyond E
27 .11.1997 due to complexities of bids offered by manufacturers and also in
view of the want of authentication of the "proveness" of the system proposed
by the appellant. It then stated that a decision had been taken not to go ahead
with the ADB loan. The note stated as follows:
"Department should not go in for ADB loan as it would result in F
---- heavy commitment charges and Department must go ahead for
implementation of rural telecom project through its own resources"
According to the appellant, these minutes dated 19.11.1997- were back-dated
inasmuch as, even as late as 20.11.1997, the Chairman TC's office diary
G
recorded a note that the Chairman (TC) wanted para 2 to be modified to say
that the Department did not have any technically responsive bid and that
none of the offered systems were proven and therefore Department might not
go ahead with the Joan and the draft might be modified in consulation with
ADV(T)/DDG(LPT) & resubmitted. According to the appellant, the convenor
of the High Level Committee created these imaginary deficiencies in the H
1040 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999) 2 S.C.R.
A appellant's bid and prepared backdated minutes and showed that all the High
Level Committee members had signed the minutes on l 7. l l. l 997 itself. These
backdated minutes, it is alleged, were prepared as a ground for rejection of
the tender, in spite of the fact that S years were spent on drafting the
specifications and in the evaluation of bids. According to the appellant, the
B Sr.DDG-TX who is said to have signed the·se "concocted backdated" minutes
had, in reality, not even seen these minutes, let alone signing them. The
appellant stated that the said officer disowned signing such minutes dated
17. l l.l 997. The appellant made a representation on 23. l l.l 997 to the 2nd
respondent and on 16.12. l 997, the impugned order was passed, cancelling the
·tenders.
c The appellant then filed writ petition on 6. l. l 998 in the High Court of
Punjab & Haryana. The High Court dismissed the writ petition on 27 .2.199&.
A review application was filed .but that was also dismissed on 19.3~ 1998.
Thereafter, the appellant moved this Court· in June, 1998.
D . This Court issued notice. on 8.6.1998 in the application for leave returnable
by 22.6.1998 and stated that till then the Union of India should not return the
bid papers .to the appellant;·
-
We shall now refer to the subsequent events that have taken place after
the filing of the SLP in this Court.
E
On 2.9.1998, when the matter came before the Court, a copy of the
communication of the Ministry of Finance dated l.9.1998 received by the DOT
was placed before the Court, That letter showed that pursuant to a letter of
the DOT dated 29.4.1998, the ADB had come to know about the inability of
F the DOT to avail of the ADB loan. This Court requested the Additional
Solicitor General of India to take appropriate instructions from the concerned
department and directed that an intimation be sent to the ADB to keep the
letter of cancellation of loan in abeyance, awaiting further orders from this
Court.
G On 22.9.1998,-the Additional Solicitor General of India informed this
Court that the Union of India had communicated to the ADB about the
pendency of the ca_se. Thereafter, this Court permitted the parties to the case, ·
if they thought it fit, to inform th~ ADB about the order which this Court
passed on thaiday i:e. 22.9.1998.
H Thereafter, several affidavits came to be filed by the Union of India as
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.O.I. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1041
directed by the Court. The affidavit dated 4.1.1999 stated that the DOT had A
conveyed, through the Department of Economic Affairs, to ~he ADB on
17.9.1998 for keeping the letter of cancellation of ADB loan.in abeyance. It
was also stated that the ADB, in its letter dated 29.10.1998,. had infomied the
Department of Economic Affairs that it had decided that it was nQt "practical"
to keep the loan offer open and that, in fact, formal steps had been taken to B
cancel the loan-offer on 6.11.1998. The DOT also stated that the ADB had
approved the withdrawal of the loan on 6.11.1998. "'
This Court was informed on 5. I , l 999 that, in the meantime, 1the
Government of India was thinking of calling for fresh tenders for installatib~.
of telephones under a new scheme for rural areas spread over different.' 'c
States and this Court directed a. further affidavit to be filed in this behalf. !
A fresh affidavit dated 15.l.1999was filed on behalf of the Union of
India to the effect that the ADB loan had a validity period ofone year which
had automatically
., lapsed on 27 .11.1997, that there was a time constraint in
regard to the ADB loan and that remainders were received from the Department D
of Economic Affairs to avail the loan latest by 27 .11.1997, that the DOT had
informed the Finance Department that it was not availing the loan and that
it had decided
"to fund the Rural ~eleJ~ Project through its own resources"
E
It was stated that this decision was taken to avoid heavy commitment
charges of ADB loan if the evaluation/decision on the previous tender
went beyond 27.11.1997. Thereafter, the previous tenders were
cancelled on 16.12.1997, stating that:
"no bidder qualified the technical/commercial evaluation" F
- It was also stated that the Department of Economic Affairs had, by their letter
dated 26.11.1998, already confirmed that the ADB had approved withdrawal·
of the loan on 6.11.1998 as already informed to this Court.
In regard to the new scheme for rural telephones, it was stated in the G
affidavit of the respondent that under the scheme of Village Public Telephones
(VPT), during 1997-98 42,855 VPTs were provided, that for 1998-99, the target
was 45,000 VPTs and out of that 10,150 were already provided by December,
1998 through other schemes in progress. It was stated that the Department
had already covered 6, l 00 villages out of 36,000 village in Eastern Uttar
Pradesh which were to be covered under the previous tender and that another H
1042 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A ·5,500 VPTs would be provided by March, 1999. It was further clarified as
follows:
"All the villages in UP(E) would be provided Telecom facilities during
the 9th Plan period along with the rest of the Country. Presently, out
of 75,000 villages ofUP(E), 32,000 villages have already been provided
B Telecom facilities."
It was stated that during 1997-98, the Department had opened 990 new rural
exchanges and had provided 7.16 lakhs new telephone connections in rural
areas and had incurred an expenditure of Rs. I 060 crores for rural telephones.
So far as 1998-99 was concerned, the Department had allocated l,485 crores
C for rural networks to be opened in 1,385 new rural exchanges and 'to provide
8.4 lakhs telephone connections. The Department had already installed 295
rural exchanges and provided 2 lakhs telephones between April, 1998 and
December, 1998. For 1999-2000; it was planned to allocate Rs.2000 crores for
rural network and to provide 12.5 lakhs telephone connections. It was also
D stated that, presently, there were 18,500 indigenously developed C-DOT
exchanges which were working in rural area having total capacity of 40 lakh "
lines, landlines, digital MARR etc. ·
So far as remote/inaccessible areas were concerned, it was stated in the
affidavit of the respondent that a choice of technology was made by including
E wireless in local loop (WLL) based on area o( application as stated in the
affidavit dated 5.11.1998. The Department had already floated a tender for
20,000 lines for Digital Wireless Local loop Systems for rural areas - for the
entire country, including UP. A copy of the Bid doc~ent was filed. It was
alleged that the appellant, among other manufacturers, had also actively
participated in the finalisation of the Technical Specifications of the new
F tenders. These specifications were slightly different from the earlier ADB
-
tender and were based on latest 'Generic Requirement' (GR) prepared by the
.Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) of the Department, after extensive
consultation with the manufacturers. The bid document for this tender was
on sale w.e.f. 8.Ll999 and 7 companies had already purchased the same and
the .tenders were scheduled to be opened on 4.2.1999. It was stated for the
G respondents across the BaC that the appellant had also responded to the new
advertisement. Again C-DOT TOMA PMP Technology, field-trial orders were
placed on Mis ITI for 25 Systems having capacity for providing 4,000 Village
Panchayat Telephones (VPTs). These telephones were expected to be installed
by February, 1999 in 17 Telecom Circles spread throughout the Country and
H these systems were more cost-effective than WLL system and .were based on
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.0.1. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1043
indigenous technology developed by Mis C-DOT. Against satellite based A
technology, notice inviting tenders had been issued on 30.12.1998 for 1,000
terminals and the tender was scheduled to be opened on 9.4.1999.
Two tabular statements were filed by the Union of India during tpe
process of hearing of the cases. One show~d, District-wise, the number of
villages identified for the earlier ADB tender and the villages provided with B
VPT out of the said villages. It was shown that out of 32,350 villages in UP
Telecom Circle in UP Districts, 8524 villages out of the villages identified for
ADB tender, (i.e. in Eastern UP) were already provided with telephones. A
separate t~lrtar statement was filed showing the progress of telephone
installation in the rural sector right from 1992. As on 31.12.1998, the position C
is stated to be as follows:
"Assam & Nagaland- 72.3%; AP -78.5%; AS - 48.2%; Bihar-24.2%;
Gujarat - 76.8%; Haryana - 99.4%; Himachal Pradesh -40.4%; J&K-
41.75%; Kamataka-81%; Kerala - 100%; Madhya Pradesh - 55.1%;
Maharashtra -69.5%; NE - 26.7%; Orissa - 41.7%; Punjab - 94.1%; D
Rajasthan - 56.3%; Tamil Nadu -98.4%; UP(Eastem) - 43.9%;
UP(Westem) -34.4%; Delhi - 100%; Calcutta - 90%. In all, 6,07,491
villages, the average is 51.8%".
It will be noticed that the percentage of telephones in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh,
J&K, North East and Orissa is less than the percentage in Eastern UP. E
These are the subsequent events that have taken place d1:1ring the
pendency of these matters in this Court. It will be noticed that these events
have substantially changed the very basis of the original writ petition filed
in the High Court of Punjab & Haryana. The ADB loan on which the tender
was based now stands withdrawn; the tenders for installing 38,000 telephones F
in Eastern UP stand withdrawn and invitations for new Tenders spread over
several rural areas in various States have now been made. In fact, the new
tenders have also been submitted. It is stated for the respondents that the
appellant is also participating in these new tenders. We have, therefore, to
decide this appeal in the light of the above subsequent developments. G
Learned Senior counsel Sri D.D. Thakur and Sri R.F. Nariman for the
r- appellant and Senior counsel Sri Rajeev Dhawan for the petitioner in the
Transfer Petition have submitted that in spite of these developments, the
question whether the various officers conspired and played fraud in seeing
to it that the ADB loan lapsed or stood withdrawn, has still to be gone into. H
1044 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A They contend that when the wtitpetition was. filed ,on 6J .1998; tbe position
was that wiflt a view to' allow multi-nation~l.companies-'t6 "diuµp,outmoded
0
analog te'chnology into India, ;the officers were\~,antfog to flo~t fresh· tenders
in ':which· such'· analog '.t~hnofogy' cpuld 'b~: m;tde .the 'basis:6i'.the'tenders,
said
' 'either 'wholly ~i:'pilrtty' ·that th~ ~tt~inpt .~as su~cessfullyth\Varted by the
··~appenili~ fiung:ttie writ petition·tii:tiie High~c~utf~f' Punjab· and Hai"yfina and
B that with a view to spite the appellant; the officers had an conspired and
'played fraud in having the ADB loan withdraw11 and the ADB terid~r cancelled.
This,' according to the appellant, amounted to a fraud on the appellant and
also on the people of Eastern UP and has to be investigated. The excuse put
··forward by the officers of DOT that ADB loari would be expensive was
C absurd inasmuch as there was a 5 year moratorium on interest and the. interest
rate was something like 4% and there were other very favourable terms. It was
argued that there was no point in ha".ing such a beneficial .loan withdrawn
and spending funds of the Government of India. The learned Senior counsel
for appellant and for petitioner in the Transfer Petition contended that the
scheme meant for a very backward area like Eastern UP could not be allowed
D to be frustrated in this manner.
Alternatively, it was contended by the learned senior counsel for the
appellant that the appellant had a legitimate expectation of a. substantive
nature, that, even if the Government wanted to put its own funds, the original
E tender notification would be processed for the benefit of Eastern UP. The
respondents cannot change the policy to benefit the rural areas in the whole
country and abandon the original tender notification for Eastern UP.
Dr. Rajeev Dhawan for the petitioner in the transfer Petition contended
that fraud in private-law field was different from fraud in the public-law field.
This Court should, therefore, decide whether these officials got the H1gh
F
Level Committee appointed only with a view to harm the appellant and
whether the Committee was stage-managed by a few officers who had other
motives. Learned counsel Sri Dhawan also contended that this was a case of
legitimate expectation for the appellant in the civil appeal as also to the 36,000
villages in Eastern UP. The learned Senior counsel for the State of Punjab Sri
G P.C. Jain also supported the case of the appellant on the ground that the
appellant was its public sector undertaking.
On the other hand, it was contended vehemently for the Union of India
by Sri C.S. Vaidyanathan, the learned Additional Solicitor General of India,
that there was absolutely no truth in the contention of the appellant that there
H was a conspiracy or fraud to shelve the ADB loan, or to bring in outmoded
PB.COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.0.1. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1045
technology into India through certain favoured multinationals. According to A
him, there were two main defects in thetender submitted by the appellant, one
was a technicai one and.the other was the absence of proof of 'provei:iess'.
Even though; final opJ)ortiinity ~as giv~n,. the .appellant having agreed to
produce. fresh:~rtifiq~te from China,(ap~ from, t~e certificate initially filed)
to prove 'proveness' of the system iri'that c'otintry ~.the. appellant failed to B
do so. The High Level J~ommittee's proceedings; in fact, showed that it
.wanted to accept the appellant's teridet and it gave an opportunity to the
appellant to make good the defects but the attitude· of the appellant was n:ot
helpful and it was the inaction of the appellant that was the cause for the
delay thatled to a situation whei:e the time limit set by the ADB came very
close arid was expiring. As the~e was. no ~hance of the appellant curing the C
defects within the few days that were left, the ADB lo~ had to be withdrawn.
Photocopies of the entire departmental proceedings were placed before the
Court to show that everything was done bona fide and the allegations of the
appellant were wild and unsubstantiated. It was argued that there was no
forgery or ante-dating of any minutes. Two files in the respective departments
were moving simultaneously and there was absolutely no truth in the D
allegations of ante-dating the minutes. Now that the ADB loan stood withdrawn
and the ADB tender had also fallen through, the writ petition had become
totally infructuou~. The Government of India decided to go on with its own
funds and now a new policy decision was taken to benefit rural areas in the
whole country and not merely the 36,000 villages in Eastern UP. This was E
because there were other rural areas in other States which were more backward
then Eastern UP. In those places, the percentage of telephones was far less
than.in Eastern UP. In fact, fresh tend.ers have been called for to benefit the
backward rural areas in the whole country and the new tenders are no longer
confined exclusively to Eastern UP. A Tabular statement relating to the national
figures regarding telephones is placed before the Court to show that there are F
even more backward rural areas in some States where the percentage of
telephone was less than in Eastern UP. The Government has, now plans to
cover all backward rural areas in the country in the next few years and monies
have also been allocated. AU these details have been given in the additional
affidavits and statements filed in the Court. There is no question of dumping G
outdated technology into India. The new tenders and the future schemes are
based on the latest 'digital' technology and not on the outmoded 'analogy'
technology. The new government policies are wider and cannot be challenged
in this writ petition which had become infructuous. There is no proof of fraud
either in private law or public law established. There can be no legitimate
expectation in regard to the ADB loan contract and in any event the new H
1046 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1999] 2 S.C.R.
A policy is based on overriding considerations of public interest and cannot be
questioned. The appeals are liable to be dismissed. It is also argued that there
is no need to transfer the writ petition filed by Mr. OP Srivastava from the
Allahabad High Court to this Court. That has also, it is stated, become
infructuous.
B On these submissions, the following questions arise for consideration:
(1) Whether, after the ADB loan for the contract for providing telephones
for Eastern UP was withdrawn, it is necessary to give any finding on the
question of alleged fraud or to grant any directions regarding the bids offered
for the ADB contract?
c
(2) Whether, if initially the Government decided to fund the proposed
contract for Eastern UP from its own resources, it was permissible for the
Government to change its policy into one for providing telephones for rural
areas in the entire country and whether the 'legitimate expectation' of the
appellant in regard to the earlier notification required, this Coart to direct that
D the notification for Eastern UP should be continued?
Point I
The disputes between the parties, before the ADB loan was withdrawn,
were (i) whether there was a conspiracy or fraud or other manouvre on the
E part of the DOT-officials to shelve the ADB loan to spite the appellant and
bring in outmoded 'analog' technology through favoured multinationals and
(ii) whether the appellant (a) complied with the technical specifications and
(b) produced adequate proof of the 'proveness' of the system offered by the
appellant i.e. as to its successful implementation in China.
F A review of the facts and the subsequent events would show that the
issues which were live when the writ petition of the appellant was pending
in the High Court have now lost all their relevance. The entire tender was
based on the ADB loan. If the ADB loan itself has now stood withdrawn,
there is now no possibility of the ADB loan project for Eastern UP being
G started or completed. It will well nigh be impossible to issue any directions
to the Union of India to seek a renewal of the lapsed loan nor to issue any
directions to continue the project for Eastern UP on the basis of ADB loan.
Even so, learned Senior counsel for the appellant and the petitioner in
---
the Transfer petition have argued the case on merits as if the ADB loan were
H still alive. We have been taken through several volumes of correspondence
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.0.1. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1047
between the various departments, and the minutes of various officers and of A
the High Level Committee to prove arbitrariness in the non-acceptance of the
appellant's bid on two counts. We have heard these submissions very patiently
bui the point is whether this Court is to give findings on issues which have
become non-issues now after the withdrawal of the ADB loan. We have given
our anxious consideration to the various contentions raised on behalf of the
appellant and the petitioner in the Transfer Petition and we are Of the view B
that a detailed decision on the said questions is not called for. A question
of fraud was also raised. But once the ADB loan is withdrawn the question
has also become a non-issue. The position is that in respect of the ADB loan
project, no fresh tenders based on 'analog' system have been invited nor has
any multinational company been awarded any contract based on outmoded C
analog system. The said question of fraud is no longer relevant. On all these
issues we should not be understood as having expressed any opinion. Further,
there cannot be a cause of action on the basis of an "attempt at fraud" which
did not materialise. It is true as stated in De Smith Administrative Law (para
13.010) (5th Ed.) that it is fundamental to the legitimacy of public decision-
making that official decisions should not be infected with motives such as D
fraud (or dishonesty) malice or personal self interest. Duty to act in good faith
is inherent in the process. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner in the
Transfer Petition, Sri Rajeev Dhavan referred to Shrisht Dhawan v. Shaw
Brothers, [ 1992] l SCC 534 where the distinction between fraud in public law
and private law has been adverted to. But all these legal principles are not E
relevant if, the so called or alleged attempt at fraud did not fructify. We
-< accordingly do not think it worthwhile to go into the question of 'fraud'
either. We may once again clarify that we should not be understood as having
decided anything on the merits of these questions. Point l is decided
accordingly.
F
Point 2.
It was argued that even if the ADB loan was withdrawn, when the State
deeided to go ahead with its own funds, it should have gone ahead with the
same notification calling for tenders for Eastern UP sans ADB loan. The
change in the policy to benefits other backward areas in the courts was G
unwarranted. Reliance was placed on the principles of promissory estoppel
and legitimate expectation. It was contended that the project for Eastern UP
should still go ahead and it was not open to the Union of India to deprive
the appellant company of its reasonable and legitimate expectation regarding
the acceptance of the bid offered for the Eastern UP project; It was not open
to the State to deprive the expectation of villagers in 36000 villages in Eastern H
1048 SUPREME coyRT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A UP and to change over to a new policy of providing telephones to rural areas
in all the States. Such is the contention of the appellant. We do not propose
to deal with question of promissory estoppel because the parties were still
at the stage of the tenders, at the relevant time. We shall, therefore, confine
ourselves to the point relating to legitimate expectation of the appellant and
the effect of the change of policy.
B
The principle of 'legitimate expectation' is still at a stage of evolution
as pointed out in De Smith Administrative Law (5th Ed.) (para 8.038). The
principle is at the root of the rule of law and requires regularity, predictability
and certainty in governments' dealings with the public. Adverting to the
basis of legitimate expectation its procedural and substantive aspects, Lord
C Steyn in Piersova v. Secretary of State [1997] 3 All E.R. 577 (at 606) (HL)]
goes back to Dicey' s description of the rule of law in his "Introduction to the
study of the Law of the Constitution" (10th Ed., 1959 p.203) (*)as containing
principles of enduring value in the work of a great Jurist. Dicey said that the
constitutional rights have roots in the common law. He said:
D "The ·rule of law', lastly, may be used as a fonnula for expressing the
fact that with us, the law of constitution, the rules which in foreign
countries naturally fonn part of a constitutional code, are not the
source but the consequence of the rights of individuals, as defined
and enforced by the Courts; that, in short, the principles of private
E law have with us been by the action of the Courts and Parliament so
extended as to d~tennine the position of the Crown and its servants,
thus the constitution is the result of the ordinary law of the land".
This, says Lord Steyn, is the pivot of Dicey' s discussion of rights to personal
freedom and to freedom of association and. of public meeting and that it is
F clear that Dicey regards the rule of law as having both procedural and
substantive effects. "The rule of law enforces minimum standards of fairness,
both substantive and procedural". On the facts in Pierson, the majority held
that the Secretary of State could not have maintained a higher tariff of
sentence than recommended by the judiciary when admittedly no aggravating
G circumstances existed. The State could not also in~rease the tariff with
retrospective effect.
*See also 'The Rule of Law as the Rule of Reason' : Consent and Constitutional ism in
(1999) 115 L.Q.R. 221at234 that 'Fairness is both procedural and substantive': Due Process
and Fair Procedure by DJ. Galligam (1996); and at p. 242 quoting Dicey (1959) at p. 203-
H 204.
PB.COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.0.I. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J .] 1049
The basic principles in this branch relating to 'legitimate expectation' A
were enunciated by Lord Diplock in Council of Civil Service Unions v.
Minister ofthe Civil Service, (1985) AC 374 (408-409). It was observed in that
case that for a legitimate expectation to arise, the decisions of the administrative
authority must affect the person by depriving him of some benefit or advantage
which either (i) he had in the past been permitted by the decision-maker to B
enjoy and which he can legitimately expect to be permitted to continue to do
until there has been communicated to him some rational grounds for
withdrawing it on which he has been given an opportunity to comment; or
(ii) he has received assurance from the decision-maker that they will not be
withdrawn without giving him first an opportunity of advancing reasons for
contending that they should not be withdrawn. The procedural part of it C
relates to a representation that a hearing or other appr9priate procedure will
be afforded before the decision is made. The substantive part of the principle
is that if a representation is made that a benefit of a substantive nature will
be granted or if the person is already in receipt of the benefit that it will be
continued and not be substantially varied, then the same could bt: enforced.
In the above case, Lord Fraser accepted that the civil servants had a legitimate D
expectation that they would be consulted before their trade union membership
was withdrawn because prior consultation in the past was the standard
practice whenever conditions of service were significantly altered. Lord Dip lock
went a little further, when he said that they had a legitimate expectation that
they would continue to enjoy the benefits of the trade union membership. The E
interest in regard to which a legitimate expectation could be had must be one
which was protectable. An expectation could be based on an express promise
or representation or by established past action or settled conduct. The
representation must be clear and unambigous. It could be a representation to
the individual or generally to a class of persons.
F
The principle of substantive legitimate expectation, that is, expectation
of a favourable decision of one kind or another, has been accepted as part
of the English Law in several cases. (De Smith, Administrative Law, 5th Ed)
(para 13.030); (See also Wade, Administrative Laws, 7th Ed.) (pp 418-419).
According to Wade, the doctrine of substantive legitimate expectation has G
been "rejected" by the High Court of Australia in Attorney General for N.S. W
v. Quinn, ( 1990) 93 ALR I (But see Teon' s case referred to later) and that the
principle was also rejected in Canada in Reference Re Canada Assistance Plan
( 1991) 83 DLR (4th) 297 = [ 1991] 2 SCR 525 but favoured in Ireland : Cannon
v. Minister for the Marine (1991) I l.R. 82 The European Court goes further
and permits the Court to apply proportionality and go into the balancing of H
1050 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A legitimate expectation and the Public interest.
Even so, it has been held under English law that the decis.ion maker's
freedom to change the policy in public interest, cannot be fettered by the
appHcation of the principle of substantive legitimate expectation. Observations
B in earlier cases project a more inflexible rule_ than is in vogue presently. In Re
Findlay ( 1985 AC 318) the House of Lords rejected the plea that the altered
policy relating to parole for certain categories of prisoners required prior
consultation with the prisoner. Lord Scarnian observed:
"But what was their legitimate expectation. Given the substance and
c purpose of the legislative provisions governing parole, the most that
a convicted prisoner can legitimately expect is that his case be examined
individually in the light of whatevef policy the Secretary of State sees
fit to adopt provided always that the adopted policy is a lawful
exercise. of the discretion .conferred upon him by the statute. Any
other view would entail the conclusion that th~ unfettered discretion
D conferred by statute upon the minister can iri some cases be restricted
so as to hamper, or even to prevent changes· of policy. "
r
To a like effect are the observations of Lord Diplock in Hughas v.
Depa_rtment of Health and Social Security, (I 985) AC 778 (788) :
E
"Administrative policies may change with changing circumstances,
including changes in the political complexion of governments. The
liberty to make such changes is something that is inherent in our
constitutional form of government."
-
F (See in this connection Mr. Dotan's article "why Administrators should be
bound by their policies" (Vol. 17) 1997 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, p.23 ).
But today the rigidity of the above decisions appears to have been somewhat
relaxed to the extent of application of Wednesbury rule whenever there is a
change in policy and we shall be referring to these aspects presently.
G Before we do so, we shall refer to some of the important decisions of
this Court to find out the extent to which the principle of substantive legitimate
expectation is accepted in our country. In Navjypti Co-op. Group Housing
Society v. Union of India, [1992] 4 SCC 477, the principle of procedural
fairness was applied. In that case the seniority as per the existing list of co-
H operative housing societies for allotment of land w~s altered by a subsequent
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.0.1. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1051
~
-- decision. The previous policy was that the seniority amongst housing societies
in regard to allotment of land was to be based on the date of registration of
the society with the Registrar. But on 20.1.1990, the policy was changed by
A
reckoning seniority as based hpon the date of approval of the final list by
the Registrar. This altered the existing seniority of the societies for allotment
of land. This Court held that the Societies were entitled to a 'legitimate
expectation' that the past consistent practice in the matter of allotment, will B
be followed even if there was no right in private law for such allotment. The
authority was not entitled to defeat the legitimate expectation of the societies
as per the previous seniority list without some overriding reason of public
policy to justify change in the criterion. No such overriding public interest
was shown. According to the principle of 'legitimate expectation', if the c
authority proposed to defeat a person's legitimate expectation, it s~ould
afford him an opportunity to make a representation in the matter. Reference
was made to Halsbury's Laws of England (p.51, Vol.1(1) (4th Ed. re-issu¢) and
to the case in Council of Civil Service Unions 1985 AC 374, already rfferred
to. It was held that the doctrine imposed, in essence, a duty to a~t f~rly by
taking into consideration all relevant factors, relating to such legitimate D
expectation. Within the contours of fair dealing, the reasonable opportunity
to make representation against change of policy, came in.
The next case in which the principle of 'legitimate expectation' was
considered is the case in Food Corporation of India v. Mis Kamdhenu Cattle E
-
Feed Industries, [1993] l SCC 71. There the Food Corporation oflndia invited
tenders for sale of stocks of damaged food grains and the respondent's bid
was the highest. All tenderers were invited for negotiation but the respondent
did not raise his bid during negotiation while others did. The respondent filed
a writ petition claiming that it had a legitimate expectation of acceptance of
its bid, which was the highest. The High Court allowed the writ petition. F
Reversing the judgment, this Court referred to Council of Civil Service Union
Case 1985 AC 374 and to Preston In re 1985 AC 835. It was held that though
the respondent's bid was the highest, still it had no right to have it accepted.
No doubt, its tender could not be arbitrarily rejected but if the corporation
reasonably felt that the amount offered by the respondent was inadequate as G
per the factors operating in the commercial field, the non- acceptance of bid
-- could not be faulted. The procedure of negotiation itself involved the giving
due weight to the legitimate expectation of the highest bidder and this was
sufficient.
This Court considered the question elaborately in Union of India v. H
1052 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A Hindustan Development Corporation, [1993] 3 SCC 499. There tenders were
called for supply of cast-steel bogies to the railways. The three big
manufacturers quoted less than the smaller manufacturers. The Railways then
-
adopted a dual pricing policy giving counter offers at a lower rate to the.
bigger manufacturers who allegedly formed a cartel and a higher offer to
others so as. to enable a healthy com.petition. This was challenged by the
B three big manufacti.trers complaining that they were also entitled to a higher
rate and a large number ofbogies. This Court held that the change into a dual
pricing policy was not v.itiated and was based on 'rational and reasonable'
-- '
grounds. In that context;. this Court referred to Halsbury's Laws of England .
(4th Ed.) (Vol.l(I) 151). This Court referred to Schmidt v. Secretary of State
C for Home Affairs [ 1969] i Ch 149] which required an opportunity to be given
to an alien if the leave given to him to stay in UK was being revoked before
expiry of the time and to Attorney General of Hong Kong v. Ng Yuen Shiu,
(1983) 2 AC 629 which required the Government of Hong Kong to honour its
undertaking to treat each deportation case on its merits; this Court also
referred to Council of Civil Service Unions v. Minister for ihe Civil Service,
D (1985) AC 835 which related to alteration of conditions relating to membership
of trade unions and the need to consult the unions in case of change of
policy as was the practice in the past, and to Food Corporation of India case
[1993] 1 SCC 71 and Nayjyoti Co-op. Group Housing Society's case [1992] 4
SCC 477. This Court then observed that legitimate expectation was not the
E same thing as anticipation. It was also different from a mere wish or desire
or hope. Nor was it a claim or demand based on a right. A mere disappointment
would not give rise to legal consequences. This Court held (p.540) as follows:
"The legitimacy of an expectation can be inferred only if it is founded
-
on the sanction of law or custom or an established procedure followed
F .in regular and natural sequence. Such expectation should be justifiably
legitimate and protectable."
After quoting Wade, Administrative Law (6th Ed.) (p. 424, 522), this Court
referred to the judgment of the Australian High Court in Attorney Genera/for
New South Wales v. Quin, ( 1990) 64 Aust. LJR 327 in which the principle itself,
G according to Wade, did not find acceptance. In that case a Stipendiary
Magistrate incharge of a Court of Petty Sessions under the old court system
--
was refused appointment to the system of local courts which replaced the .
previous system of Petty Sessions Com1s. In 1987 the Attorney General who
was hitherto recommending former magistrates on the ground of 'fitness' for
appointment to the new local courts, deviated from that policy and decided
H to go by assessment of merit of the competing applicants. The Court of
/
t
PB. COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.Q.I. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1053
Appeal had directed that the case of Mr. Quin must be considered separately A
and not in competition with other applicants, but it was reversed by the
• majority of the High Court of Australia (Mason, CJ., Brennan & Dawson, JJ.)
(Deane and Toohey, JJ dissenting). Mason, CJ held that the Court could not
fetter the executive discretion to adopt a different policy which was better
calculated to serve the a9ministration of justice and make it more effective.
The grant of substantiverrelief in such a case would effectively prevent the B
executive from giving effect to the new policy which it wished to pursue in
relation to the appointment of magistrates, Brennan, J. observed very clearly
·that the notion of legitimate expectation (falling short of a legal right) was too
-- nebulous to form a basis for invalidating the 'exercise of power. He said that
such a principle would "set the courts adrift on a featureless sea of
pragmatism." Dawson, J. held that the contention of the respondent exceeded
the bounds of procedural fairness and intruded upon the freedom of the
c
executive.(*) This Court in Hindustan Development Corporation's case [1993]
-· 3 SCC 499 then proceeded to refer to R v. Secretary of State for the Home
Department ex parte Ruddock, (1987) 2 All RR. 518 and Findlay v. Secretary
of State for the Home Department, (1984) 3 All E.R. 801 and to Breen v. D
Amalgamated Engineering Union, (1971) 1 All E.R. 1148. This Court accepted
(see p. 546) that the principle of legitimate expectation gave the applicant
sufficient locus standi to seek judicial -review and that the doctrine was
confined mostly to a right to fair hearing before a decision which resulted in
negativing a promise or withdrawing an undertaking, was taken. It did not E
involve any crystallised right. The protection of such legitimate expectation
did not require the fulfilment of the expectation where an overriding public
interest required otherwise. However, the burden lay on the decision maker
to show such an overriding public interest. A case of substantive legitimate
expectation would arise when a body by representation or by past practice
aroused expectation which it would be within its powers to fulfil. The Court F
could interfere only if the decision taken by the authority was arbitrary,
. unreasonable or not taken in public interest. If it is established that a legitimate
' expectation has be~n improperly denied on the application of the above
*In a iater decision from Australic in Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
v. Tech., (1995) 69 ALJR 423 the High Court held that the U.N. Covenant on the rights G
of the Child, which was not incorporated into Australian Law, may nevertheless give rise
to a legitimate, expectation that the decision maker would comply with it, atleast to the
~·
extent of giving an affected person a hearing. This decision ha!f been treated as controversial
and critised (Sec Taggart) (1996) 112 L.Q.R. SO. The decision no doubt held that such an
expectation did not, however, compel action consistent with the Trt:aty provisions. McHugh,
J. dissented. [See Unincorporated Treaties in Australian Law] ( 1996) PL 190 and Lord
Lester's article in (1996) PL 187. H
1054 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A principles, the question of giving opportunity can arise if failure of justice is
shown. The Court must follow (p. 548, an objective method by which the
decision making authority is given the full range of choice which the legislature
is presumed to have intended. (In this connection we shall advert to a similar
view of Laws, J. and also to the contrary view of Sedley, J). If the decision
B is reached fairly and objectively, it cannot be interfered with on the ground
of procedural fairness. An example was given that if a renewal was given to
an existing licence holder, a new applicant cannot claim an opportunity based
on natural justice. On facts, it was held that legitimate expectation was denied ·
on the basis of reasonable considerations.
C The next case in which the question was considered is Madras City
Wine Merchants' Association v. State of Tamil Nadu, [1994] 5 SCC 509. In that
- l
case the rules relating to renewal of liquor licences were statutorily altered by
repealing existing rules. It was held that the repeal being the result of a
change in the policy by legislation the principle of non-arbitrariness was not
invocable. In that context, this Court referred to a large number of authorities
D on the question.
This Court in MP. Oil Extraction v. State of MP., [1997] 7 SCC 592
considered the question again. In that case, it was held that the State's policy
to extend renewal of an agreement to selected industries which came. to be
.E located in Madhya Pradesh on invitation of State, - as against other local
industries - was not arbitrary and the said selected industries had a legitimate
expectation of renewal under renewal claims which should be given effect to
according to past practice unless there was any special reason not to adhere
to the practice. It was clearly held that the principle of substantive legitimate
expectation was accepted by this Court earlier. Reference was made to Food
F Corporation's, case [1993] I SCC 71; Navjyoti Co-op. Group Housing Society's,
case [1992] 4 SCC 477 and to Hindustan Development Corporation's, case
[1993] 3 sec 499. ,,_.
Lastly we come to the three judge judgment in National Buildings
G Construction Corporation V. s. Raghunathan & Others, [1998] 7 sec 66.
This was a service matter. The respondents were appointed in CPWD and
they went on deputation to the NBCC in Iraq and they opted to draw, while l
on deputation, their grade pay in CPWD plus deputation allowance. Besides
that, the NBCC granted them Foreign Allowance at 125% of the basic pay.
Meanwhile their Basic Pay in CPWD was revised w.e.f. 1.1.1986 on the
H recommendation of the 4th Pay Commission. They contended that the
PB.COMMUNICATIONSLTD.v. U.0.1. [M.JAGANNADHARAO,J.] 1055
abovesaid increase of 125% should be given by NBCC on their revised scales. A
This was not accepted by NBCC by orders dated 15.10.1990. The contention
of the respondents based on legitimate expectation was rejected in view of
the peculiar. conditions under which NBCC was working in Iraq. It was observed
that the doctrine of 'legitimate expectation' had both substantive and procedural
aspects. This Court laid down a cl~ar principle that claims on legitimate
expectation required reliance on representation and resultant detriment in the B
same way as claims based on promissory estoppel (*)~ The principle was
developed in the context of 'reasonableness' and in the context of 'natural
justice'. This Court referred to R. v. /RC exp Preston, (1985) AC 835; Food
Corporation's case [1993] 1 SCC 71; Hindustan Development Corporation's
case [1993] 3 sec 499; the Australian case in Quin (1990) 64 Aust. LJR 327 C
and MP. Oil Extraction's case [1997] 7 SCC 592; the Council of Civil Service
Union's case 1985 AC 374 and Navjyoti's case [1992] 4 sec 477.
The above survey of cases shows that the doctrine of legitimate
expectation in the substantive sense has been accepted as part of our law and
that the decision maker can normally be compelled to give effect to his D
representation in regard to the expectation based on previous practice or past
conduct unless some overriding public interest comes in the way. The judgment
in Raghunathan 's case requires that reliance must have been placed on the
said representation and the representee must have thereby suffered detriment.
The more important aspect, in our opinion, is whether the decision E
maker can sustain the change in policy by resort.to Wednesbury principles
of rationality or whether the Court can go into the question 'whether decision
maker has properly balanced the legitimate expectation as against the need
for a change? In the latter case the Court would obviously be able to go into
the proportionality of the change in the policy. F
*This also appears to be the view of Simon Brown, LJ in a tax case in Regina v.
Commissioners of Inland Revenue ex parte Unilever Pie, (1996) 68 Tax Cases 205 at 231
referring to Regina v. Inland Revenue Commissioners ex parte MFK Underwriting Agents
Ltd. & Others, (1990) 1 WLR 1545; Regina v. Jockey Club ex parte RAM Racecourses
Ltd., (1993) 2 All ER 225 and Regina v. Independent Television Commission ex parte TSW
Broadcasting Ltd., (1994) 2 LRC 414. Wade, Administrative Law, (7th Ed. p. 419) also G
appears to think that detrimental reliance on previous policy is necessary.
- See, however, DeSmith (5th Ed.) Administrative Law (para 8.060) where he says
that in important cases, a legitimate expectation has been founded in the absence of
detrimental reliance and that there are good reasons for doing so. R. v. Secretary of State
for Home Department exp. Asif Mahmood Khan, (1984) 1 WLR 1337; Attorney General
of Hong Kong v. Ng Yuc'I Shiu, (1983) 2 AC 629; R. v. Secretary of State for the Home
Department ex parte Ruddock, (1987) 1 WLR 1982. H
1056 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R.
A This aspect has come up for consideration recently in the English
Courts. The debate was started by Laws, J. in R. v. Secretary of State for
Transport, ex ~arte Richmond upon Thames London BC, (1994) 1 WLR 74
-
where the learned Judge laid down that the Wednesbury reasonableness test
alone applied for finding out if the change from one policy to another was
justified. That was a case in which, in relation to airports a new system of
B night flying restrictions were imposed. The new policy related to the fixation
of the maximum number of take-off and landing movements variable ac·cording
to the type of aircraft involved and the noise the aircraft generated during the
night time. The Wednesbury test was held applicable. Laws, J. stated:
c "The Court is not the Judge of the merits of the decision maker's
policy .... the public authority in question is the Judge of the issue
whether ·overriding public interest' justifies such a change in policy
... But that is no more than saying that a change in policy, like any
discretionary decision by a public authority, must not transgress
Wednesbury principles."
D
But this view of Laws, J. was dissented by Sedley, J. in R. v. Ministry of
Agriculture Fisheries & Food, ex parte Hamble Cofjshore Fisheries ltd
(1995) 2 All E.R. 714. The learned Judge observed that if the outcome is
challenged by way of judicial review, he 'did not consider that the courts'
criterion was restricted to consider the rationality of the policy maker's
E conclusions. He held that while policy was for the policy maker alone, the
fairness of his or her decisipn remained the courts' concern. He said that to
say so did not amount to placing the Judge in the seat of the minister.
The judgment of Sedley, J. has since been overruled in R. v. Secretary
of State for the Home Department and another, ex parte Hargreaves and
F others, (1997) l WLR 906 (A). In that case, the facts were that the eligibility
for 'home leave' of prisoners was initially one third of the term of·sentence
as per in earlier decision of the government of 1994 (accepting Lord Woolfs
Report, 1990) and Hargreaves would attain that eligibility by 12-4-95 to put
in his application. But the Home Secretary felt that the scheme was being
G abused and therefore he modified the eligibility to one half of the period of
sentence by notice dated 20.4.95. This postponed Hargreaves' eligibility to
-
12.4.96. Though the applicant had "become eligible" by 20.4.95, the Courts
rejected his plea of legitimate expectation because eligibility merely enabled
consideration of the application for home leave. The case was similar to
Findlay 1985 AC 318 which related to change in parole policy and which was
H held valid. It was held that the change in home leave policy did not violate
PB.COMMUNICATIONS LTD. v. U.O.I. [M. JAGANNADHA RAO, J.] 1057
the earlier policy. In the Court of Appeal, Hirst, LJ said described the principle A
laid down by Sedley, J. as based on 'heresy' and stated:
"On matters of substance (as contrasted to procedure) Wednesbury
provides the correct test. It follows that ... his (Sedley, J.'s) ratio in
so far as he propounds a balancing exercise to be undertaken by the
Court should, in my opinion, be overruled." ' B
The result is that change in policy can defeat a substantive legitimate
expectation if it can be justified on Wednesbury reasonableness. We have
noticed that in Hindustan Development Corporation, case [1993] 3 SCC 449,
also it was laid down that the decision maker has the choice in the balancing
of the pros and cons relevant to the change in policy. It is, therefore, clear C
that the choice of the policy is for the decision-maker and not for the Court,
The legitimate substantive expectation merely permits the Court to find out
ifthe change in policy, which is the cause for defeating the legitimate expectation
is irrational or perverse or one which no reasonable person could have made.
The Court of Appeal considered the question again in a tax case in R. D
v. Commissioner of Inland Revenue, ex parte Unilever Pie (1990) (Vol. 68) Tax
Cases 205 = 1996 STC 681. A particular loss relief was being granted at a
second stage on more than 30 occasions during 20 years though the relief
was not claimed within the stipulated period of two years. In respect of 1988,
the relief claimed beyond time was for the first time refused. It was contended
that there was a substantive legitimate expectation that the revenue would E
continue to follow the previous practice in regard to claims for loss relief. It
was held that the Court was still confined to Wednesbury principles but that
on facts it a case of 'exceptional' circumstances and it would be unfairness
amounting to abuse of power to refuse to follow past practice. Lord Woolf
MR agreed that no doubt the Revenue was the best Judge of what was fair. p
But on facts, the learned Judge treated the case as exceptional. Simon Brown,
LJ also agreed with this view. He in addition emphasised the detrimental test
as did this Court in Raghunathan's case (p. 231). Noting that substantive
legitimate expectation was rooted in the theory of' legal certainty', he observed
as follows (p. 233): ·
"Of course legal certainty is a highly desirable objective in public
G
administration as elsewhere .......the central Wednesbury principle is
that an administrative decision is unlawful if " ... so outrageous in its
defiance of logic of or accepted moral standards that no sensible
person who had applied his mind to the question to be decided could
have arrived at it". The flexibility necessarily inherent in that guiding H
1058 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1999] 2 S.C.R..
A principle should not be sacrificed on the altar of legal certainty."
On facts, the case was treated as on~ containing exceptional circumstances
which, even going by the Wednesbury principle, required relief to be granted.
Thus both in ex P. Hargreaves (in which the challenge failed) and ex p.
B Unilever (in which the challenge succeeded), the protection for substantive
legitimate expectation was based on Wednesbury unreasonableness. In sum,
this means that the judgment whether public interest overrides the substantive
legitimate expectation of individuals will be for the decision-maker who has
made the change in the policy and the Courts will intervene in that decision
only if they are satisfied that the decision is irrational or perverse [See 1997
C Public Law, 375 "Wednesbury Protection of Substantive legitimate expectation
by Christopher Forsyth]. The observations of this Court in Hindustan
Development Corporation's case, [I 993] 3 SCC 499; in MP. Oil Extraction's
case, [I 997] 7 SCC 592 and in S. Raghunathan 's case, [I 998] 7 SCC 66 are more
or less to a similar effect, though no specific reference was made to the
D Wednesbury rule.
After Hargreaves, Wednesbury principle is now consistently followed
in England. We shall refer to two recent cases. Lapse of time resulted in a
changed policy in R. v. Cardiff County Council, Exp. Scars Group Properties
Ltd., [1998] Public Law 518. The position there was that a company was
E granted planning permission in 1993 and the relevant highway authority had
indicated that it had no objection to entering into a highway improvement
agreement under Section 278 of the Highways Act, 1990. The proposed
highway scheme was approved in 1995. But in 1996, there was a reorganisation
of local Government in Wales, and the successor authority withheld its authority
for the approved scheme until an updated traffic impact analysis had been
F submitted and was considered. It was held by Carnworth, J that where a
formal decision had been made in relation to a subject matter affecting private
rights, that decision would be considered binding unless and until there had
been some change which undermined the foundation of the original decision;
the question whether there could be such a change was for the authority,
G subject to Wednesbury unreasonableness test. In that case, the highway
authority had not rejected the agreement outright but had requested a new
traffic analysis, which was prima facie reasonable because of lapse of time.
In yet another case in McPhee v. North Lanark.shine Council, (1998) SLT
1317 (See 1999 Public Law 152-153 ), the petitioner was a traveller who consented
to vacate a site after receiving a letter from the Director of Housing telling
H her that she would be offered a pitch at the site after the refurbishment work
PB.COMMUNICATIONSLTD.v. U.O.I. [M.JAGANNADHARAO,J.] 1059
had been carried out. The Council subsequently refused to grant her a pitch~ A
She sought a 'declarator' that she was 'entitled to be offered accommodation
by way of a petition on the site and that on the same tenns and conditions
as any other family seeking accommodation from the respondents". It was
. held by Lady Congreve, J. that an authority providing an assurance as to a
substantive right may depart from it but will fall to be scrutinised by reference B
to Wednesbury reasonableness. Since it could not be said that no reasonable
authority could do anything other than grant her application, the remedy of
declarator was inappropriate.
In view of the above legal position, can it be said on the facts of this
case that the substantive legitimate expectations of the appellant have been C
contravened?
It will be noticed that at one stage when the ADB loan lapsed, the
Government took a decision to go ahead with the project on its own funds.
But later it thought that the scheme regarding telephones in rural areas must
cover not only the villages in Eastern UP but also in other l?ackward rural D
areas in other States. The statistics given in th·e counter-affidavits of the
Union of India to which we have already referred, show that there are other
States in the country where the percentage of telephones is far less than what
it is in eastern UP. The said facts are the reason for the change in the policy
of the government and for giving up the notification calling for bids for
Eastern UP. Such a change in policy cannot, in our opinion, be said to be E
irrational or perverse according to Wednesbury principles. In the circumstances,
on the basis of the clear principles laid down in exp. Hargreaves and exp.
Unilever, the Wednesbury principle of irrationality or perversity is not attracted
and the revised policy cannot be said to be in such gross violation of any
substantive legitimate expectation of the appellant which warrants interference F
in judicial review proceedings. Point 2 is held against the appellant.
The appeals and Transfer Petition are dismissed but in the circumstances,
without costs.
R.K.S. Appeals and Petition dismissed.
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