JUDGMENT M. Katju and Rakesh Tiwari, JJ.
1. Sri Satya Prakash has accepted notice on behalf of the Food Corporation of India and may file counter-affidavit within four weeks. List thereafter.
2. A perusal of the record of this petition shows that this writ petition was originally filed before the Lucknow Bench of this Court in August, 1988. It kept pending at Lucknow and on 23.4.2001, a Division Bench at Lucknow passed an order calling for a reply within ten days. Subsequently, it appears that an application under Clause 14 of the U. P. High Court (Amalgamation) Order, 1948 was filed before Hon'ble the Chief Justice and by an order dated 13.12.2001, Hon'ble the Chief Justice passed an order transferring the case to Allahabad.
3. This writ petition is a typical instance of how petitions which are not pertaining to Lucknow Bench at all, inasmuch as no part of the cause of action has arisen within Avadh area, are being filed in the Lucknow Bench of this Court and are unfortunately being entertained although the Lucknow Bench has no jurisdiction in the matter. This writ petition was filed against the impugned order dated 3.6.1988 which was passed by the Senior Regional Manager, Food Corporation of India, Chandigarh. The impugned order dated 3.6.1988 is an order of compulsory retirement which was passed at Chandigarh and at that time, it appears that the petitioner was posted at Aligarh. Hence, the writ petition could either have been filed at Allahabad or in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, but it could certainly not be filed at the Lucknow Bench of this Court. It appears that the Senior Regional Manager, Food Corporation of India, Lucknow was impleaded as a respondent in this case and in this way, the jurisdiction at Lucknow Bench was sought to be artificially created.
4. This is a malpractice which has been going on for quite some time that the petitions which do not pertain to Lucknow Bench at all are being filed at the Lucknow Bench by impleading the State of U. P. through the concerned Secretary at Lucknow or some other authority at Lucknow although the Lucknow Bench has nothing to do with such petitions since no part of the cause of action has arisen in Avadh area, and this is being done just to create jurisdiction at Lucknow Bench artificially. This malpractice is violative of the Supreme Court decision in Nastruddin v. S.T.A.T., AIR 1976 SC 331.
5. This unfortunate malpractice has been going on for quite some time and the time has now come when this must be stopped. In fact, the Allahabad Bench is the principal and main Bench of the Allahabad High Court and the Lucknow Bench is only a Bench of the Allahabad High Court. This is also evident from the fact that under the High Court Amalgamation Order, 1948, a case filed at the Lucknow Bench (if within the jurisdiction of the Lucknow Bench) can be transferred under clause 14 by the Chief Justice to Allahabad, but the petitions filed ' at Allahabad cannot be transferred to the Lucknow Bench.
6. Clause 14 of the High Court Amalgamation Order, 1948 reads as follows :
"The new High Court, and the Judges and division courts thereof, shall sit at Allahabad or at such other places in the United Provinces as the Chief Justice may, with the approval of the Governor of the United Provinces, appoint :
Provided that unless the Governor of the United Provinces with the concurrence of the Chief Justice, otherwise directs, such Judges of the new High Court, not less than two in number, as the Chief Justice, may, from time to time nominate, shall sit at Lucknow in order to exercise in respect of cases arising in such areas in Oudh, as the Chief Justice may direct, the jurisdiction and power for the time being vested in the new High Court :
Provided further that the Chief Justice may in his discretion order that any case or class of cases arising in the said areas shall be heard at Allahabad."
7. No doubt in Nasiruddin's case (supra), it has been held that there is no permanent seat of the High Court at Allahabad. This is true in the sense that there is nothing permanent in the world. But as things stand today, the main and principal seat of the Allahabad High Court is indisputably at Allahabad. The Chief Justice and most of the senior and other Judges ordinarily sit at Allahabad. The Registrar General of the Court also functions based at Allahabad. The Allahabad High Court was created by Queen Victoria's Letters Patent in 1866, whereas Lucknow only had a Judicial Commissioner's Court upto 1925 and thereafter the Chief Court for Avadh upto 1948, when the Amalgamation Order was passed. Hence from the historical angle also, there can be no matter of doubt that the principal and main seat of the High Court is at Allahabad.
8. This is also borne out from clause 14 of the High Court Amalgamation Order, 1948 which in its principal part says that the High Court and its Judges shall sit at Allahabad or at such other places in U. P. as the Chief Justice with approval of the Governor may appoint. The mention of Allahabad here is significant. It clearly indicates that unless otherwise appointed in accordance with Clause 14 the principal seat of the High Court is at Allahabad. There is no order of the Chief Justice with approval of the Governor that the seat of the High Court will be elsewhere. It is only under the first proviso to Clause 14 that the Bench at Lucknow comes into existence, but it is well-settled that a proviso cannot take away, the efficacy of the main rule.
9. The second proviso to clause 14 clearly indicates that it is only cases which arise out of Avadh area, that is to say, in which at least part of the cause of action arises in Avadh, which can be transferred by the Chief Justice to Allahabad. Hence, the Chief Justice has no Jurisdiction to transfer a case in which no part of the cause of action arose in Avadh to Allahabad under Clause 14. Such cases illegally filed at Lucknow must be returned at the very threshold to learned counsel for filing at Allahabad.
10. Sri Y. D. Sharma, learned counsel for the petitioner states that about forty writ petitions were filed at Lucknow Bench which were not pertaining to the Lucknow Bench but subsequently Sri Y. D. Sharma has moved applications for getting the cases transferred to the Allahabad Bench. These petitions relate to Aligarh, Mathura, Muzaffarnagar, etc. but they were filed at the Lucknow Bench of this Court.
11. Before concluding, we are constrained to observe that had the reporting staff in the Registry at Lucknow been acting with due diligence, the above malpractice would not have assumed the present proportions or persisted unchecked. The staff charged with the duty to report whether the case is cognizable by the Lucknow Bench or at Allahabad must carefully examine each case whether any part of the cause of action on which the petition presented for reporting is founded has arisen within the limits of the jurisdiction of the Lucknow Bench, and not go blindly by the fact that any of the respondents is functioning at Lucknow. The Registrar of the Court at Lucknow should ensure and stress that the reporting staff functions efficiently and with due diligence.
12. We, therefore, direct that as soon as a case is filed, the Registry both at Allahabad and Lucknow should write a note on it stating whether any part of the cause of action has effectively arisen within the jurisdiction of that Bench, and this note should not be made merely by looking at the array of parties.
13. We have compared the columns/seal of the stamp reporters on the petitions filed at Allahabad and Lucknow, and we find that they are different. Since it is one High Court, in our opinion, there should be uniformity, and we direct that a further column be added to indicate where the cause of action has arisen. We may clarify that 'cause of action' means the bundle of facts which give rise to a right or liability.
14. Let copy of this order be placed by the Registrar General before Hon'ble the Chief Justice and also sent to the Senior Judge of the Lucknow Bench and the Registrar at Lucknow Bench so that this practice which has been going on for quite some time may be effectively rooted out.
15. The Registrar General of this Court is also directed to make investigation into the matter in collaboration with the Registrar of Lucknow Bench regarding cases which have been filed at Lucknow in which the Lucknow Bench has no territorial Jurisdiction and the records of such cases should be transferred to Allahabad. A list of such cases should be prepared by the Registry within three months from today, and a report be placed before Hon'ble the Chief Justice for appropriate orders.