SIKH NEWSPAPER LTD. versus D.M. JALANDHAR AND ORS.

Citation: [1996] 1 S.C.R. 16 · Decided: 02-01-1996 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: K. RAMASWAMY, G.B. PATTANAIK · Disposal: IA disposed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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SIKH NEWSPAPER LTD. 
v. 
'f 
D.M. JALANDHAR AND ORS. 
JANUARY 2, 1996 
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[K. RAMASWAMY AND G.B. PATTANAIK, JJ.] 
Company Law : 
Newspaper Company-Deficiency in its working-<Jeneral Body Meet-
ing of Shareholders for the purpose of working of the company-Suit to be 
; 
c filed by the Company--Commissioner to be appointed to conduct the General 
Body meeting in accordance with bye-laws and A11icles of Association of the 
Compan~arlier orders passed in this matter by Supreme Court to be basis 
for taking further action-Directions-lssued. 
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CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: I.A. Nos. 8-11of1993. 
IN 
Civil Appeal No. 5855of1983. 
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From the Judgment and Order dated 4.2,83 of the Punjab & Haryana 
High Court in L.P.A. No. 94 of 1983. 
R.S. Sodhi, Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Ms. Ruby Ahuja, Mrs. M. Karanjawala 
for the Appellants. 
Swaraj Kaushal, R.S. Suri, N.K. Aggrawal, G.K. Bansal Rani Jethmalani 
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(NP) for the .Respondents. 
The following Order of the Court was delivered : 
We have heard the counsel on either side. This Court on march 6, 1990 
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passed the order as under : 
"The Arbitrator will determine the above issue and other connected 
issued indicated above and make his award giving the list of the genu-
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ine shareholders of the company as on 10.11.87 within four months 
from the date of his entering upon the reference. The arbitrator will 
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also fix a suitable date for the holding of a meeting of the above gen-
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SIKH NEWSPAPER v. D.M. JALANDHAR 
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era! body of shareholders of the company under the Chainnanship of 
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the persons mentioned, and for transacting the business referred to, in 
the Minutes of Settlement annexed to the order dated 11.11.87 in the 
manner indicated therein. We direct the appellant company, there-
upon, to take necessary steps to convene the meeting on the date so 
fixed and issue necessary notices to the shareholders on the list drawn 
. up by the arbitrator. We further direct that the meeting be held on the 
date specified rn the award notwithstanding any order, injunction or 
prohibition issued by any court restraining the holdingofthe meeting 
or restraining the shareholders or any of them from voting at the meet-
ing and subject only to any directions that may be issued by this Court 
before the meeting is actually held. Till the final disposal of the mat-
ter, the fixed assets of the Company should not be alienated, parted 
with or encumbered by any of the parties without the pennission of 
this Court." 
I.A. Nos. 8-11193 have been filed seeking direction to the District Mag-
istrate, Jalandhar, or for that matter any other person, to restore the status quo 
with regard to the status of the applicant Shri Ratnesh Singh Sodhi as the 
Printer, Publisher and Editor in Chief of the Akali Patrika owned by Sikh News-
paper Ltd. and to restore status quo with regard to the same as on 16.4.1993 
till a meeting of the share-holders of the Company (as decided by the Arbitra-
tor) is held to detennine the said issue. 
An affidavit has been filed by Balraj Singh Takhar stating that he has 
settled down in States and he no longer is interested in pursuing the matter and 
that, therefore, he is entitled to withdraw from the contest and let the matter be 
closed. When the matter had come up before us on November 27, 1995, in 
view of the above statement, Shri R.F. Nariman, learned counsel who appeared 
for the second appellant in the main appeal had stated that in view of the con-
sent of the parties for appointment of an arbitrator, namely, Shri Justice E.S. 
Venkataramiah, as he then was, and since the learned Judge had declined to act 
as an arbitrator, he requested appointment of a fresh arbitrator to pursue the 
direction issued by this Court. At that stage, it was pointed out that since the 
Court had no material before it as to who is to prosecute the arbitration pro-
ceedings and on whose behalf, it would be difficult to give such direction as 
sought for which reads thus : 
"Learned counsel appearing for the 2nd respondent in the main 
matter and the applicant in this application stated that in view of the 
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1996] l S.C.R. 
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affidavit filed by Balraj Singh Takhar, son of Shri Banta Singh, ap-
pellant No. 2 , that he does not wish to proceed further in the manage-
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ment of "Daily Akali Patrika" and that since he has been prosecuting 
the proceedings and having been settled in U.S.A., it would be diffi-
cu It for him to p
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