While depricating the practice of disposal of writs in a machanical manner, the Supreme Court reiterated that there is duty cast upon High Courts to issue a reasoned order when a number of grounds are raised in the writ petition.

The Division Bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice B V Nagarathna was deciding on an appeal in one such writ by which the Uttrakhand High Court disposed off the said writ petition without deciding the merits and directed the Department to comply with the order passed by the Tribunal which was under challenge before it.

It was contended by the State that by the impugned order, the Division Bench of the High Court observed that though Tribunal had passed an order on 15th September, 2021, no review ACP has been constituted. It was further being averred that there was no discussion at all by the High Court on the merits of the order passed by the Tribunal, which was under challenge before it.

The Court noted that the order passed by the Tribunal was challenged on a number of grounds, none of the which were taken into consideration by the High Court on merits. It opined that the High Court ought to have noted that the order passed by the Tribunal was under challenge before it and therefore, it was required to decide and dispose the matter on merits and consider the legality and correctness of the order passed by the Tribunal.

"There is no discussion at all on any of the grounds raised in the writ petition. The Division Bench of the High Court has disposed of the writ petition in a most cavalier and cursory manner, which is unsustainable. The High Court has disposed of the writ petition without deciding the writ petition on merits and has directed the Department to comply with the order passed by the Tribunal solely by observing that the order has been passed on 15th September, 2021 and till date no review ACP has been constituted."

The Court didn't at all appreciate the manner in which the High Court has dealt with matter and disposed of the writ petition without deciding the same on merits. It reiterated the duties of the High Court while and cited Vishal Ashwin Patel Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Circle 25(3), 2022 Latest Caselaw 263 SC wherein it was observed that when the Constitution confers on the High Courts the power to give relief, it becomes the duty of the High Courts to give such relief in appropriate cases and the High Courts would be failing to perform its duty if relief is refused without adequate reasons. It was further observed that in this case, the High Court in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India was required to have independently considered the legality and validity of the order passed by the Tribunal which was under challenge before it.

In the present matter, it was pointed out by the Court that neither any submission on merits is recorded nor is there any discussion on the merits of the matter on the order passed by the Tribunal. There was no application of mind at all by the High Court on merits of the order passed by the Tribunal. It can be seen that the High Court has failed to exercise its jurisdiction vested in it while exercising the powers under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the Court enunciated.

Further examples of cases such as Central Board of Trustees Vs. M/s Indore Composite Pvt. Ltd., 2018 Latest Caselaw 489 SC, Union Public Service Commission Vs. Bibhu Prasad Sarangi, 2021 Latest Caselaw 124 SC.

Applying the law laid down, the Court noted that the impugned order is bereft of reasoning as diverse grounds were urged/raised by the parties which ought to have been examined by the High Court in the first place and a clear finding was required to be recorded upon analysing the relevant documents.

Allowing the appeal, the matter was remitted back to the High Court for afresh ruling in line with the law.

Case Title: State of Uttarakhand & Anr. Versus Mayan Pal Singh Verma

Case Details: CIVIL APPEAL NO. 2905 OF 2022;

Coram: Justice M R Shah and Justice B V Nagarathna

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