SOUDAMBIKA FINANCE PVT LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since common and similar as well as overlapping questions of law and facts arise for consideration and submissions have been made by counsel appearing on either side, these writ petitions are considered and dealt with in common.

(2.) The above writ petitions involve challenge to the constitutional validity of the Chit Funds Act, 1982 (Central Act 40 of 1982), hereinafter referred to as "the Act" and the Tamil Nadu Chit Funds Rules, 1984, hereinafter referred to as "the Rules", on various grounds. As a matter of fact in some of the writ petitions the challenge is confined only to some specific provisions in the Act and the Rules alone. Of the various petitioners, some are either public or private Ltd. companies incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, or proprietary or partnership concerns or individual organisers themselves. Since different writ petitions have been filed seeking different reliefs in relation to different provisions, I consider it enough, instead of referring to them all in the course of the judgement itself, to classify them under different groups with reference to the prayers in the writ petitions and make it as annexure to this judgement.

(3.) . The impugned Act has been brought into force in the State with effect from 13-4-1984. Prior to this, so far as the State of Tamil Nadu is concerned, it had a law in the form of the Tamil Nadu Chit Funds Act, 1961 (Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1961) and the Tamil Nadu Chit Funds Rules, 1964. So far as the State of Pondicherry is concerned, in respect of which also, there are certain number of writ petitions in this batch of cases, the Central Act 40 of 1982 has been brought into force in the said State with effect from 1-11-1986 the date on which the Chit Funds (Pondicherry) Rules, 1986 was published in the Gazette of Pondicherry. Prior to this, the Pondicherry Chit Funds Act (18/1966) and the Rules made thereunder were in force in the said State. Prior to the Central Act, it is only in some of the States, the subject-matter under consideration was governed by the local was enacted by the Legislatures of the State concerned and to some places by extension of laws of the other States. Be that as it may, it can be safely stated that there was no law regulating to running of Chit Funds in several States and that even in the laws in force in some of the States they had their own variations. Before the contentions raised by the various petitioners are considered, it would be not only necessary, but useful to deal with the history of the legislation and the circumstances which necessitated and the object sought to be achieved as well as the imminent need felt by the Parliament to protect the unwary and innocent subscribers from the scheming machinations and manipulations of those running these conventional chit transactions and unscrupulous organisizers invariably identified by the name of Foreman. The institution carrying on Chit Fund Business is indisputably of more than a century old, and was at no point of time under regulation of a Central enactment. The various aspects and facts of this business the anomalies and unfair methods and unhealthy practices adopted by many of those running this business came to be noticed after a thorough investigation and on the basis of relevant as well as substantial materials gathered by the Reserve Bank of India, memoranda received from various chit fund companies as well as materials submitted by the representatives of some of the leading chit funds to the Banking Commission and the Annual Reports of a new chit funds which were made available. On the basis of the said and such other materials, the report of the Banking Commission prepared in the year 1972, the report of the study group on Non-banking Financial Intermediaries dated 10-8-1971 constituted by the Banking Commission and the Report of the Study Group of Non-Banking Companies headed by its Chairman J. S. Raj identified as 'Raj Committee Report' dated 14-7-1975 submitted from time to time would throw considerable light on the historical development of this institution. Likewise, the report of the Select Committee constituted for considering the Chit Funds Bill, 1980 introduced in the Lok Sabha to provide for the regulation of Chit Funds which culminated in the Central Act 40 of 1982 also throw not only considerable light on some of the aspects raised in these proceedings but also contain an analysis of the various clauses in the Bill, with reference to some of which the challenge has been made in these writ petitions.