The Supreme Court has clarified that litigants can only approach it directly without petitioning the High Court in two specific situations. On May 16, the Supreme Court delivered a ruling stating that parties would not be allowed to bypass the remedies available at the High Court level by invoking special leave jurisdiction, except in two circumstances.
The Bench, consisting of Justices AS Bopanna and Dipankar Datta, explained that the Supreme Court accepts Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) without the involvement of the High Court only when there is a substantial question of general importance or a similar matter pending consideration.
The order emphasized that the power to grant leave under Article 136 is discretionary and the Supreme Court would not permit a party to bypass the High Court remedy unless the aforementioned conditions are met.
The Court heard a contempt petition related to the willful disobedience of an order issued by the Supreme Court in an SLP, which resolved a property dispute. The SLP had settled the dispute and increased the compensation awarded to the respondents, who were directed to vacate the disputed property.
While the execution petition was pending, the High Court instructed the executing court to decide on the respondents’ objections. Consequently, the executing court considered the objections to be valid and decided to rule on their merits after gathering evidence.
The daughter and son of the original plaintiff appealed against this interim order and requested the removal of the respondents’ resistance. The Supreme Court examined the specific circumstances and concluded that an investigation should be conducted by the executing court.
Thus, the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions, stating that there was no reason for it to intervene, especially since the order of the executing court had not been challenged before the High Court.
The Court made it clear that the executing court should proceed with the application of the appellants and the respondents’ objections on their own merits, without being influenced by any observations made in the Supreme Court’s order.
