Allowed

Dr Amrita Singh v. Union of India and Anr.

Delhi HC17 May 2024W.P.(C)/4936/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Petitioner filed a Writ Petition for transfer of an appeal regarding her deceased husband's death to a competent authority under Section 7(3) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, alleging misconduct against the current Director General of Shipping.

What did the court decide?

Directed the Central Government to appoint any other officer to hear the Petitioner's pending appeal and other applications under Section 7(3) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.

Dr Amrita Singh Vs Union of India and Anr. — Constitutional and Fundamental Rights | Delhi HC (2024)

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$~143

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- W.P.(C) 4936/2024 & CM APPL. 20214/2024

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DR AMRITA SINGH ..... Petitioner

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Through: Mr. Sudhir Nandrajog, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Tushar Agarwal and Mr. Arun Kumar, Advocates.

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versus

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UNION OF INDIA AND ANR. ..... Respondents

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Through: Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC with Mr. Tarveen Singh Nanda, GP for UoI.

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CORAM:

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HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD

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O R D E R

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% 17.05.2024

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Petitioner has approached this Court with the following prayers:

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“ a) CALL FOR DETAILED STATUS REPORT FROM THE RESPONDENT NO. 1 & 2 REGARDING ACTION TAKEN PURUSANT TO THE COMPLAINT/REPRSENTATION ADDRESSED BY THE PETITIONER; AND/OR

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b) ISSUE WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS OR ANY OTHER WRIT /ORDER/DIRECTION OF SIMILAR NATURE DIRECTING THE RESPONDENT NO. 2 TO SUSPEND & INSTITUTE THE DISCIPLINARY ENQUIRY AGAINST SHRI SHYAM JAGANNATHAN, THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SHIPPING, MUMBAI OWING TO HIS PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT IN BLATANT VIOLATION OF CENTRAL CIVIL SERVICES

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 21/05/2024 at 11:45:18

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(CONDUCT) RULES, 1964; AND/OR

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c) ISSUE WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS OR ANY OTHER WRIT/ORDER/DIRECTION OF SIMILAR NATURE DIRECTING THE RESPONDENT NO. 1 TO ASSIGN THE PENDING APPEAL REGARDING THE DEMISE OF THE HUSBAND OF THE PETITIONER LATE SHRI SANJAY CHAUDHARY (EX-CHIEF ENGINEER) AND ALL OTHER MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS FILED BY THE PETITIONER TO A COMPETENT & IMPARTIAL AUTHORITY OTHER THAN THE CURRENT DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SHlPPlNU, MUMBAI SHRI SHYAM JAGANNATHAN IN VIEW OF HIS PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT AND TO ENSURE EARLY, EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE & FAIR DISPOSAL OF PENDING APPEAL AND ALL PENDING APPLICATIONS/REPRESENTATIONS FILED BY THE PETITIONER & ALL THE PENDING LETTERS/REPRESENTATIONS OF THE INVESTIGATING AGENCY IN RELATION TO THE DEMISE OF THE HUSBAND OF THE PETITIONER WITHIN A PERIOD OF 15 DAYS;

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d) PASS ANY FURTHER ORDER(S) WHICH THIS HON'BLE COURT MAY DEEM FIT IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE.”

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It is very fairly stated by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner that as of today he is pressing only prayer (c).

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The facts, in brief, leading to the present Writ Petition are that the Petitioner’s husband passed away on 17.04.2018 due to sudden cardiac arrest while he was sailing on the high seas. Material on record discloses that complaints have been filed by the Petitioner regarding harassment of her husband which lead to his death. It is stated that on the complaint of the

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 21/05/2024 at 11:45:18

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Petitioner, a preliminary enquiry was conducted by the CBI and that on the grievances raised by the Petitioner, the concerned authorities have held in favour of the Petitioner, however, in appeal, the orders passed by the first authority have been set aside by the Appellate Authority. The Petitioner, therefore, filed an appeal before the Director General of Shipping under Rule 19 of the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour) Rules, 2016, which is still pending.

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Material on record indicates that the Petitioner has made several allegations against Director General of Shipping and the Director General of Shipping has also expressed its inhibitions in entertaining the appeal.

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Section 7 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 reads as under:

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“ Section 7. Director-General of Shipping.

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(1) The Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a person to be the DirectorGeneral of Shipping for the purpose of exercising or discharging the powers, authority or duties conferred or imposed upon the Director-General by or under this Act.

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(2) The Central Government may, by general or special order, direct that any power, authority or jurisdiction exercisable by it under or in relation to any such provisions of this Act as may be specified in the order shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be so specified, be exercisable also by the Director-General or by such other officer as may be specified in the order.

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(3) The Director-General may, by general or special order, and with the previous approval of the Central Government, direct that any power or authority conferred upon or delegated to, and any duty imposed

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This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 21/05/2024 at 11:45:18

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upon, the Director-General by or under this Act may, subject to such conditions and restrictions as he may think fit to impose, be exercised or discharged also by such officer or other authority as he may specify in this behalf. ”

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Section 7 provides that the Central Government can confer or delegate the authority of the Director General to such other officer or authority.

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In the special facts of this case, in view of the fact that there are personal allegations against the Directorate General of Shipping and the Director General of Shipping has himself expressed inhibitions from entertaining the appeal, this Court, without exercising its opinion on the nature of complaints and in view of the principle of natural justice, is of the opinion that the Central Government should exercise power under Section 7(3) of the Act to appoint any other officer to hear the appeal filed by the Petitioner.

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With these directions, the Writ Petition is disposed of along with the pending applications, if any.

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SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, J

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MAY 17, 2024 Rahul

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 21/05/2024 at 11:45:18

Dr Amrita Singh v. Union of India and Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Dr Amrita Singh v. Union of India and Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

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