Greeva Garg –
Published on: September 14, 2021 at 11:15 IST
The Supreme Court of India in a matter between Uttarakhand and Allahabad High Courts stated that judicial discipline or propriety demands respect to the Order passed by Coordinate Bench of a High Court.
The Division Bench comprising Justice MR Shah and Justice Aniruddha Bose was dealing with a case where the Allahabad High Court had granted liberty to the appellants to withdraw a case and approach the Uttarakhand High Court since the Labour Court involved in the case of UP Jal Vidyut Nigam v. Balbir Singh fell under the jurisdiction of Uttarakhand after its creation in 2000.
The case involved an aggrieved employee who approached the Dehradun Labour Court for illegal termination of his work term in 1997, even not paying him any back wages.
The decision of the Labour Court, which was in favour of aggrieved was appealed in Allahabad High Court.
In 2014, the Allahabad High Court stayed the Labour Court’s after granting the appellant liberty to withdraw the case and approach the Uttarakhand High Court in a fresh plea.
The Apex Court set aside the November 2019 Order of the Uttarakhand High Court which had dismissed the petition observing that a Coordinate Bench of Allahabad High Court was not justified in permitting the appellants to withdraw the plea with liberty to file fresh petition before the appropriate Court.
“Learned Single Judge of the High Court of Uttarakhand was not acting as an appellate Court against the judicial order passed by the Coordinate Bench of the Allahabad High Court,” the top Court stated.
“If that power was not exercised and subsequently it was found that proceedings which were required to be transferred under Section 35(2) of the Reorganisation Act, has not been transferred, it does not preclude the High Court of Allahabad to pass a judicial order and that too permitting the appellants to withdraw the writ petition pending before it and to file it before an appropriate court,” the Supreme Court further observed.
Disposing the Order of the Uttarakhand High Court, the Apex Court has directed to dispose of the matter within six months in its original jurisdiction.
Judgement: https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2020/2723/2723_2020_42_1503_29965_Judgement_13-Sep-2021.pdf
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