Category: Res sub-judice, res judicata, caveat, and restitution

ISSUE:

Whether a writ petition under Article 32 is maintainable after the dismissal of a similar petition by a High Court under Article 226?

RULE:

Decisions by competent courts are final unless overturned on appeal, and repetitive petitions on the same issue are barred by res judicata under Section 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

According to the rule of res judicata, if a case has been dismissed on merits by the High Court, then the same cannot be brought before the Supreme Court by way of a subsequent petitioner under Article 32.

However, if a petition under Article 226 is dismissed not on merits but on account of delay or availability of an alternate remedy, there is no bar to filing a subsequent petition under Article 32.

ISSUE:

Whether a court can issue interim injunction in exercise of its inherent powers under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”), when specific provisions exist for the same?

RULE:

The provisions of the CPC neither limit nor control the inherent powers of the court under Section 151.

However, where an express provision is made for a particular situation within the CPC, a departure from the same cannot be allowed.

Courts cannot exercise their inherent powers under Section 151 of CPC to order an injunction when a specific provision under Order XXXIX to grant interim injunction is enshrined in the CPC.

ISSUE:

Whether a person is entitled to lodge a caveat under Section 148-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”), without specifying the relevant application and the right under which he appears before the court?

Whether the assumption of service of notice of requisition under Section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1947 (“LA Act”), without verification, is valid for the purposes of adjudication in execution proceedings?

RULE:

Under Section 148-A of the CPC, any person who claims a right to appear in a hearing of an application in a suit or proceeding may lodge a caveat. However, the caveator must specify the nature of the application, the person expected to file it, and their right to appear.

Any service of notice under statutory provisions must be duly verified, and an assumption of such service cannot form the basis of adjudication without proper inquiry.

ISSUE:

Whether the doctrine of constructive res judicata is a bar to consecutive writ petitions attacking the validity of the same order?

RULE:

According to the rule of constructive res judicata, a party cannot file a subsequent writ petition with additional grounds not raised in the prior petition.