Altamas Kabir, J. - (1.) ALL these appeals have been filed by the Syndicate Bank against the common judgment passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on 6thAugust, 2003, dismissing the several writ petitions filed by the Bank.
(2.) BRIEFLY stated the facts leading to the filing of the Special Leave Petitions are that M/s. United Auto Tractors Private Limited, (for short 'the Company') one of the common respondents in all these appeals, applied to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for allotment of 100 acres of land in the industrial area for setting up of an industry for manufacturing agricultural tractors and implements. The Government of Andhra Pradesh by its letter dated 18thJuly, 1972 written by the Director of Industries allotted 51 acres of land in Nacharam Industrial Development Area, Hyderabad, to the company for setting up of the said industry. An Agreement was entered into on 3rd August, 1972 between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Company which required the company to pay to the Government the cost of the land plus development charges as determined by the Government. As a condition precedent to place the Company in possession of the plot, an initial payment of not less than Rs. 2,46,840/- being 50% of the costs, was required to be paid. The Company agreed to execute a promissory note in favour of the Government for the balance unpaid cost of the land plus development charges. Under the Agreement, the Government agreed to the Company raising money on the property agreed to be sold provided the financial agency agreed to pay on behalf of the Company so much of the amount advanced as loan to the Company as would remain due on the said promissory note. Financing agencies were required to obtain prior consent of the Government in case they advanced more than 60% of the value of the land. Under the terms and conditions of the Agreement, the company was required to complete the construction of the factory building and other structures within 9 months and if the land was no longer required for the purpose for which it was allotted, the Company would relinquish and restore the land to the Government. The Agreement also contained the usual clauses of re-entry on breach of any of the covenants mentioned in the Agreement. It was also stipulated that till such time as the ownership of the property was transferred to the company in the manner mentioned in the Agreement, the property would continue to remain the property of the Government. On 3rd August, 1972, the Director of Industries, Andhra Pradesh, issued a letter permitting the Company to mortgage the allotted land to any scheduled bank and obtain financial assistance to set up the project.
(3.) IN pursuance of a policy decision, the Government of Andhra Pradesh issued orders, being GOMs No. 1162 dated 4thDecember, 1973, directing the transfer of all the industrial estates and development areas, including the industrial area in question, to the Andhra Pradesh INdustrial INfrastructure Corporation Ltd. (for short 'the APIICL') with effect from 1st January, 1974. Consequently, the industrial area with which we are concerned, together with all the rights in the land, stood vested in the APIICL. The APIICL immediately required the Company to take note of the vesting of the land in the Corporation and demanded payment of the balance 50% cost of the land. The Company however, failed to pay the same within the stipulated time. On the other hand, the Syndicate Bank appears to have advanced several loans to the Company subject to mortgage of the allotted land by deposit of Title Deeds. The Syndicate Bank treated the "No Objection Letter" of the Director of INdustries dated 18th July, 1972 as the Title Deeds. Since the Company failed to discharge its obligations to the Syndicate Bank, proceedings were taken by the Bank for recovery in the Debts Recovery Tribunal, Bangalore, (for short 'the Tribunal') of the amount advanced to the Company for purchase of machinery and movable s which were hypothecated in favour of the Bank as security. The Tribunal allowed the Bank's application on 18th October, 1996 and held that the Bank was entitled to recover a sum of Rs. 2,57,10,393/- from the Company and its Directors, including the Managing Director, jointly and severally, with costs, current and future interest on the principal amount at the rate of 21.5% per annum with quarterly rests from the dated of the application to the date of realization. The Tribunal accordingly issued a Recovery Certificate dated 30th December, 1996, certifying that in default of such payments as aforesaid, the amount due would be recoverable by sale of the hypothecated movables or mortgaged immovable properties. While the said proceedings were being taken by the Bank, the APIICL by its proceedings dated 17th August, 1993, cancelled the allotment of land to the Company to an extent of 25 acres on the ground that the Company had failed to utilize the land allotted for setting up a unit for manufacturing tractors. The said order was not challenged by the Company and has since attained finality.;