OWNERS AND PARTIES INTERESTED IN THE VESSEL M.V. POLARIS GALAXY versus BANQUE CANTONALE DE GENEVE

Citation: [2022] 10 S.C.R. 1 · Decided: 23-09-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: INDIRA BANERJEE · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 2 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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[2022] 10 S.C.R. 1
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OWNERS AND PARTIES INTERESTED IN THE VESSEL M.V.
POLARIS GALAXY
v.
BANQUE CANTONALE DE GENEVE
(Civil Appeal Nos. 6897-6898 of 2022)
SEPTEMBER 23, 2022
[INDIRA BANERJEE AND A. S. BOPANNA, JJ.]
Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims)
Act, 2017 – s.14 – Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 – Or.1 r.10(2) –
Commercial Courts Act, 2015 – Whether an appeal lies to the
Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court from an order of
the Commercial Division (Single Bench) of the same High Court for
addition of a party, in an Admiralty Suit governed by the Admiralty
Act – Held: No – An order for addition of a party u/Or.1 r.10(2) of
the CPC is not appealable u/s.14 of the Admiralty Act –Maritime
Laws.
Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims)
Act, 2017 – ss.12, 14 – Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 – Or. 1 r.10(2),
Or.43 r.1 – Commercial Courts Act, 2015 – s.13 – Interpretation of
Statutes – Harmonious Construction – Held: s.14 of the Admiralty
Act provides the fora for an appeal from any judgment, decree,
final order or interim order of a Single Judge of the High Court
under the Admiralty Act to a Division Bench of the High Court –
“any interim order” has to be read harmoniously with Or. 43, r. 1 of
the CPC in view of s.12 of the Admiralty Act r/w s.13 of the
Commercial Courts Act – It is not the intent of the overriding
provision of s.14 to nullify s.12 of the Admiralty Act – s.12 of the
Admiralty Act applies to all proceedings in the High Court whether
they be original proceedings or appellate proceedings – On a
harmonious reading of ss.12 and 14 of the Admiralty Act with s.13
of the Commercial Courts Act, an intra-court appeal under the
Admiralty Act to the Commercial Division of the High Court would
lie from any judgment, decree or final order under the Admiralty
Act or an interim order under the Admiralty Act relatable to the
orders specified in Or. 43, r.1 – It could not possibly have been the
legislative intent of the Admiralty Act to make all interim orders
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 10 S.C.R.
appealable – Such a wide interpretation of the expression “interim
order” would mean that any party would be able to delay the trial
and final disposal by filing appeals even from inconsequential orders
calling for affidavits and the like – Maritime Laws.
Bills of Lading – Concept of – Law governing bills of lading
– Discussed.
Interpretation of Statutes – Non-Obstante Clause in two or
more statutes – Held: As a general rule, the Special Statutes prevail
over General Statutes – If both statutes are general statutes or
special statutes containing identical or similar non-obstante clauses,
the later statute would prevail – However, the rule that a non-obstante
clause in a later statute prevails over the non-obstante clause in an
earlier statute is not an absolute rule – The question of which
provision prevails, would necessarily depend on the object of the
enactment and, in particular, the object of giving overriding effect
to the enactment or any specific provision thereof – When two or
more enactments operating in the same field contain a non obstante
clause stating that its provisions will have effect notwithstanding
anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law, the
conflict has to be resolved upon consideration of the purpose and
policy underlying the enactments – Maxims – Generalia Specialibus
Non Derogant.
Commercial Courts Act, 2015 – s.2(1)(c)(iii) – Held: A dispute
arising out of issues relating to admiralty and maritime law is a
commercial dispute as defined in s.2(1)(c)(iii) of the Commercial
Courts Act – Maritime Laws.
Allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1.1 Section 12 of the Admiralty Act applies the
provisions of the CPC to all Admiralty proceedings in the High
Court. Section 16 of the Commercial Courts Act makes it explicit
that the provisions of CPC, as amended by the Schedule to the
Commercial Courts Act, applies to suits relating to commercial
disputes governed by the Commercial Courts Act. There can be
no doubt that the Commercial Division of the High Court has the
power to add a party to an Admiralty suit, on its own, without any
application having been made, if it is of the view that the presence
of that party before the Court may be necessary to effectively
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and completely adjudicate upon and settle all the questions
involved in the suit. The question is whether an order of the
Commercial Cou

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