ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES v. GANESH NARAIN SABOO

Judgment

' . ;. .. ~ [2011] 9 S.C.R. 936 ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES v. GANESH NARAIN SABOO (Civil Appeal No. 7037 of 2004) AUGUST 09, 2011 A B [DALVEER BHANDARI, DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA AND ANIL R. DAVE, JJ.] Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 - s. 86 - Suit against c foreign Rules, Ambassadors and Envoys - Complaint before the Consumer Fora against appellant-foreign airlines by respondent alleging deficiency in service - Applicability of s. 86 to proceedings before consumer fora - Case of appellant that being a foreign State or its instrumentality it could not be D proceeded against under the Consumer Protection Act without obtaining proper permission of the Central Government - Held: Proceeding before the Consumer Forum comes within the sweep of term 'suit' - However, s. 86 is inapplicable - Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and the E Carriage by Air Act, 1972, which came long after the CPC, are more focused and specific statutes, and thus, should be held to exclude s. 86 - In the fora created by the Consumer Act, the provisions of CPC are applicable to a limited extent and not all the provisions of CPC are made applicable to the proceedings of the National Forum - Rules created pursuant to the Consumer Act itself govern the procedure to be followed in the Consumer Fora - Thus, appellant-foreign airlines is not entitled to sovereign immunity with respect to a commercial transaction - Any other consent of the Central Government is not required to subject the appellant-foreign airlines, to a suit in an Indian Court - They must be held accountable for the contractual and commercial activities and obligations that it undertakes in India - Consumer Protection Act, 1986 - Carriage by Air Act, 1972. F G H 936 4 ,,; .r ~ . , .. ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES v. GANESH NARAIN SABOO 937 Suit - Meaning of - Held: Term 'suit' is a generic term A taking within its sweep all proceedings initiated by a party for realisation of the right vested in him in law - In common parlance, the term 'suit' is taken to include all proceedings of a judicial or quasi-judicial nature in which the disputes of aggrieved parties are adjudicated before an impartial, forum B - Thus, proceedings before the consumer fora fall squarely within the term suit. Interpretation of statutes - Principle of statutory interpretation - Held: Specific statutes that come later in time c trump prior general statutes- ConsumerProtection Act, 1986 and the Carriage by Air Act, 1972, which came long after the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, are more focused and specific statutes and therefore, should be held to supersede s. 86 - Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. D Consumer Protection Act, 1986 - Object of. Carriage by Air Act, 1972 - Application of - Held: Its rules apply to carriage performed by the State or by legally constituted public bodies - Thus, on facts, according to the E Indian Law, the appellant-foreign airlines can be subjected to suit under the Act - By signing onto the Warsaw Convention, the appellant-foreign airlines expressly waived its Airlines' right to immunity in cases such as that sub judice - Thus, the Central Governments of both India and Ethiopia have waived that right by passing the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 .and by signing onto the Warsaw Convention. F Doctrines/Principles: ., Principle of expressio unius - Explained. G Principle of restrictive immunity :... Explained International Law. Respondent booked a consignment of reactive dyes with appellant-Foreign Airlines to be delivered in H ., ,. .. - 938 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011) 9 S.C.R. • J ~ • A Tanzania. It is alleged that there was delay in delivery of goods in Tanzania which resulted in deterioration of the goods. The respondent filed a complaint against the appellant-Foreign Airlines before the State Consumer Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection B Act, 1986 for the alleged deficiency in service. The State Commission held that the complaint was not maintainable. On appeal, the National Commission set aside the order of the State Commission and remitted the matter to the State Commission for deciding it afresh. c Aggrieved, the appellant filed the instant appeal before the Supreme Court on the ground that a foreign State or its instrumentality cannot be proceeded against under the Act without obtaining prior permission from the Central Government; that a foreign State or its D instrumentality can legitimately claim sovereign immunity from being proceeded against under the Act in respect of a civil claim. The questions arose for consideration before the two E judge Bench of this Court that whether proceedings before the Consumer Forum are suits. There being two conflicting judgments on the said issue, *E.l.C.M. Exports Ltd. v. South Indian Corporation (Agencies) Ltd. and Another 2009 (10) SCALE 22 and **Patel Roadways Limited v. Bir/a F Yamaha Limited (2000) 4 sec 91, the matter was referred1 to the present larger Bench. Disposing of the appeal, the Court HELD: 1. The impugned order passed by the G National Commission is untenable so far it held that thej proceeding before the Consumer Forum does not come within the sweep of term "suit" because it is contrary to the judgment of the Constitution Bench of this Court in ***Economic Transport Organization's case that a H proceeding before the Consumer forum comes within the ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES v. GANESH NARAIN SABOO 939 sweep of term suit. The finding of the National A Commission is set aside to that extent. However, the findings of the National Commission so far as it has remitted the matter to the State Commission for adjudication is concurred with. [Para 75] [981-E-G] ***Economic Transport Organisation, Delhi v. Charan Spinning Mills Private Limited and Anr. (2010) 4 SCC 114 - followed. **Patel Roadways Limited v. Bir/a Yamaha Limited (2000) 4 sec 91: 2000 (2) SCR 665 - relied on. *E. I. C. M. Exports Ltd. v. South Indian Corporation (Agencies) Ltd. and Anr. 2009 (10) SCALE 22 - overruled. B c 1 , ~ ) D

2.1 As per the Annexure to the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 under Section 3 sub Section 2, Part-I, vide entry 47, Ethiopia is a High Contracting Party to the Convention w.e.f. 12.11.1950. The provisions of Section 7 of the Air Act read with Rules in the first schedule leaves no room or doubt that a state carrier or legally constituted public body of the international carrier is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the courts in India, including for the purpose of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. There is a consent deemed to be granted by the Central Government contemplated under Section 86(1) of Code of Civil Procedure for a specified class of suits F under the Air Act. [Paras 44, 45 and 47] [967-G-H; 968-A; 969-A-B] E • ~

1.2 The term 'suit' has not been defined in the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 nor is it provided in the G Consumer Protection Act that the term 'suit' will have the same meaning as in the Code of Civil Procedure.· Therefore, the term 'suit' has to be understood in its ordinary dictionary meaning. In that sense, the term 'suit' is a generic term taking within its sweep all proceedin1;1s H •• 940 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011] 9 S.C.R. A initiated by a party for realisation of the right vested in him in law. In common parlance, the term 'suit' is taken to include all proceedings of a judicial or quasi-judicial nature in which the disputes of aggrieved parties are adjudicated before an impartial forum. Proceedings B before the Consumer fora fall squarely within that definition. [Para 53 and 55) [973-E-F; 974-A] c ***Economic Transport Organisation, Delhi v. Charan Spinning Mills Private Limited and Anr. (2010) 4 SCC 114 • followed. **Patel Roadways Limited v. Bir/a Yamaha Limited (2000) 4 sec 91: 2000 (2) SCR 665 - relied on. Upshur County v. Rich 135 US 467 (1890); Patterson v. 0 Standard Accident Insurance Co. 178 Mich. 288 - referred to. Black's Law Dictionary - referred to.

1.3 Notwithstanding the fact that proceedings of the E National Commission are 'suits' under the Carriers Act, vide the expressio unius principle, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 clearly enumerates those provisions of the CPC that are applicable to proceedings before the consumer fora. Such provisions include Section 13(4), in .F which the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 vests those powers vested in a civil court under the CPC to the District Forum. However, according to the principle of expressio unius, because the legislature expressly made the aforementioned provisions of the CPC applicable to G the consumer proceedings, the legislature is, therefore, deemed to have intentionally excluded all other provisions of the CPC from applying to the said proceedings. This is particularly true since the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 sets forth an exhaustive list of H procedures, distinguishable from those required under ~ ... ~ .. ~ ~ ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES v. GANESH NARAIN SABOO 941 the CPC, that the consumer redressal fora must follow. A Therefore, since the Consumer Protection Act does not state that Section 86 applies to the consumer fora's proceedings, that Section of the CPC should be held to be not applicable. Likewise, the CPC itself does not claim to make Section 86 applicable to proceedings before the B consumer fora. Instead, the CPC includes a saving clause, providing that "in the absence of any specific provision to the contrary, nothing in [the CPC] shall be deemed to limit or otherwise affect any special law or any special form of procedure prescribed, by or under any c other law." In addition, Section 86 only applies to a "suit in any Court". This term should be understood differently than the term "court" because the CPC refers exclusively to Civil Courts. In particular, the CPC specifically refers to the District Courts, the High Courts, and the Supreme Court and makes little if any reference to other, quasi- judicial fora like the consumer redressal bodies. [Paras 58 and 59] (974-H; 975-A-H; 976-A] D