Pakistan Case LawLANDALE AND MORGAN (PAKISTAN) LTD., NARAYANGANI Versus THE CHAIRMAN, JUTE BOARD, DACCA AND ANOTHER
The petitioner-Company, Landale and Morgan (Pakistan) Ltd., filed a writ petition in the High Court of East Pakistan challenging the Jute Board's decision to withhold a subsidy on raw jute sales. The Jute Board had denied the subsidy on the ground that the petitioner failed to satisfy the condition that sales must not be from agents to principals, a conclusion reached after examining the petitioner's agency agreements. The High Court dismissed the writ petition due to laches and delay of approximately one and a half years, noting that the lack of urgency suggested the matter could have been pursued in a civil court. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the dismissal, holding that the dispute involved a controversial question of fact regarding the petitioner's status in relation to the consignees. The Court ruled that such factual controversies requiring detailed investigation and proof do not fall appropriately within the writ jurisdiction of the High Court.
- Whether a writ petition can be dismissed solely on the grounds of laches and delay where an alternative remedy in a civil court is available?
- Can the High Court entertain a writ petition under its extraordinary jurisdiction when the dispute involves controversial questions of fact requiring investigation and proof?
SAJJAD AHMAD, J.-The petitioner-Company Landale and Morgan (Pakistan) Ltd., claimed by a writ petition in the High Court of East Pakistan, that the respondent has withheld from it, without lawful authority, the subsidy to which it was entitled under the instructions issued by the Government for sales made by it as shippers of raw jute, in pursuance of contracts expressed in sterling, to certain firms in London and New York.
According to the impugned letter of the Jute Board dated the 24th of August 1968 (Annexure `B'), the subsidy was denied to the petitioner-Company, as it did not satisfy one of the conditions for the grant of that subsidy, viz. That "the sales are not from agents to principals". The Jute Board came to this conclusion against the petitioner on examining the agency agreements that were furnished by the petitioner. The High Court has dismissed the writ petition on ground of laches and delay in filing the petition after almost one and a half years of the accrual of the cause for action, observing that the delayed remedy sought in the High Court in writ jurisdiction showed that there was no urgency about it, and that the matter could appropriately have been taken to the civil Court for relief in the ordinary course.
The question raised in the writ petition was a controversial one of facts as to the status of the petitioner-Company qua the consignees of the shipment, which required investigation and proof, and did not fall appropriately within the writ jurisdiction of the High Court. The writ petition was rightly dismissed.
This petition is also dismissed.
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