Justice N Seshasayee of the Madras High Court dismissed a 16-year corporate dispute involving Cheran Enterprises, comparing it to a cricket match. His judgment criticized the company’s legal tactics, highlighting their failures and emphasizing values of fairness. The judge retired with reflections on the court’s legacy and literary references, marking an end to the contentious case.
Chennai: In a judgment infused with cricket metaphors, Justice N Seshasayee of the Madras High Court delivered a sharp critique of a company’s legal tactics while dismissing its petition in a 16-year corporate dispute on January 7. This case, involving Cheran Enterprises and its former foreign investors, was likened by the judge to a drawn-out cricket match.
“The match is over. The victorious fielding team has retired to the pavilion. I see the batsman still at the crease. It may require some time for team-petitioner to realise that it has lost a match that it was desperate to win,”
the judge remarked in his poetic epilogue.
The case stemmed from a failed deal between Cheran Enterprises, part of the KC Palaniswamy (KCP) Group, and its foreign investors ORE and Athappan, who had invested Rs 75 crore and Rs 4 crore, respectively. In 2008, the Company Law Board (CLB) ordered Cheran to repay Rs 79 crore with 8% annual interest within a year or transfer land held by its subsidiary Vasantha Mills Limited (VML) to the investors.
Instead of complying, Cheran launched a series of legal challenges, including disputes over FEMA regulations and share pricing. The group eventually offered to pay negligible amounts—Rs 12,41,419 (0.165%) and Rs 45,663 (0.11%)—to the investors.
Justice Seshasayee critiqued KCP’s approach, describing it as “childish and pretentious,” likening it to the tactics of a lower-division cricket team attempting to survive in a professional league.
“KCP finds itself on an unplayable and slippery wicket,”
the judgment noted, dismissing the argument that FEMA regulations limited the investors’ ability to own land in India. The CLB had already addressed this concern by allowing nominees to purchase the property.
The court highlighted KCP’s repeated legal defeats in lower courts and the Supreme Court, stating,
“Despite the scars of earlier defeats, only KCP and his teammates believe their strategy may still work.”
In a philosophical tone, the judgment reflected on the values of fairness, equity, and dharma:
“Unfairness may tempt; unfairness may even pay at times; but unfairness certainly fails.”
The judgment concluded with a tribute to the court’s enduring legacy:
“There will be another match here the next day, and yet another. I see the groundsmen already in action… Time reminds me that my moment to leave the ground has arrived.”
Justice Seshasayee, who retired on January 7, bid farewell with lines from Shakespeare:
“If we do meet again, why, we shall smile; if not, this parting was well made.”
Case Title – CEPL vs Union of India
Read the Judgement here:
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