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Sardar Inder Singh v. State of Rajasthan, 1957 SCR 605, the Rajpramukh promulgated the Rajasthan (Protection of Tenants) Ordinance (9 of 1949) on 21 June 1949 which, inter alia, provided for the reinstatement of tenants who had been in occupation on 1 April 1948 but had been subsequently dispossessed. When it was challenged before the Supreme Court, the Constitution bench, speaking through Justice T L Venkatarama Ayyar, relied on the recital in its preamble[1] while interpreting its provisions.
"11. In the present case, the preamble to the Ordinance clearly recites the state of facts which necessitated the enactment of the law in question, and Section 3 fixed the duration of the Act as two years, on an understanding of the situation as it then existed. At the same time, it conferred a power on the Rajpramukh to extend the life of the Ordinance beyond that period, if the state of affairs then should require it. When such extension is decided by the Rajpramukh and notified, the law that will operate is the law which was enacted by the legislative authority in respect of "place, person, laws, powers", and it is clearly conditional and not delegated legislation as laid down in Queen v. Burah [(1877-8) 5 IA 178, 180, 194, 195] and must, in consequence, be held to be valid...
(4) We shall next consider the contention that the provisions of the Ordinance are repugnant to Article 14 of the Constitution, and that it must therefore be held to have become void. In the argument before us, the attack was mainly directed against Sections 7(1) and 15 of the Ordinance. The contention with reference to Section 7(1) is that under that section landlords who had tenants on their lands on April 1, 1948, were subjected to various restrictions in the enjoyment of their rights as owners, while other landlords were free from similar restrictions. There is no substance in this contention. The preamble to the Ordinance recites that there was a growing tendency on the part of the landholders to eject tenants, and that it was therefore expedient to enact a law for giving them protection; and for granting relief to them, the Legislature had necessarily to decide from what date the law should be given operation, and it decided that it should be from April 1, 1948. That is a matter exclusively for the Legislature to determine, and the propriety of that determination is not open to question in courts. We should add that the petitioners sought to dispute the correctness of the recitals in the preamble. This they clearly cannot do. Vide the observations of Holmes, J. in Block v. Hirsh [(1920) 65 LEd 865 : (1920) 256 US 135].
12. A more substantial contention is the one based on Section 15, which authorises the Government to exempt any person or class of persons from the operation of the Act. It is argued that that section does not lay down the principles on which exemption could be granted, and that the decision of the matter is left to the unfettered and uncanalised discretion of the Government, and is therefore repugnant to Article 14. It is true that that section does not itself indicate the grounds on which exemption could be granted, but the preamble to the Ordinance sets out with sufficient clearness the policy of the legislature; and as that governs Section 15 of the Ordinance, the decision of the Government thereunder cannot be said to be unguided..."
Preamble gives an insight into what is sought to be achieved by the Code
Preamble gives an insight into what is sought to be achieved by the Code
As is discernible, the Preamble gives an insight into what is sought to be achieved by the Code. The Code is first and foremost, a Code for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate debtors. Unless such reorganisation is effected in a time-bound manner, the value of the assets of such persons will deplete. Therefore, maximisation of value of the assets of such persons so that they are efficiently run as going concerns is another very important objective of the Code. This, in turn, will promote entrepreneurship as the persons in management of the corporate debtor are removed and replaced by entrepreneurs. When, therefore, a resolution plan takes off and the corporate debtor is brought back into the economic mainstream, it is able to repay its debts, which, in turn, enhances the viability of credit in the hands of banks and financial institutions. Above all, ultimately, the interests of all stakeholders are looked after as the corporate debtor itself becomes a beneficiary of the resolution schemeworkers are paid, the creditors in the long run will be repaid in full, and shareholders/investors are able to maximise their investment. Timely resolution of a corporate debtor who is in the red, by an effective legal framework, would go a long way to support the development of credit markets. Since more investment can be made with funds that have come back into the economy, business then eases up, which leads, overall, to higher economic growth and development of the Indian economy. What is interesting to note is that the Preamble does not, in any manner, refer to liquidation, which is only availed of as a last resort if there is either no resolution plan or the resolution plans submitted are not up to the mark. Even in liquidation, the liquidator can sell the business of the corporate debtor as a going concern. (See Arcelor Mittal [ArcelorMittal (India) (P) Ltd. v. Satish Kumar Gupta, 2018 SCeJ 1006."
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