‘New HCs can’t rule on old cases’
The Supreme Court, in an important ruling on jurisdictional powers of a new high court set up in a newly-formed state, on Monday ruled that it cannot have retrospective jurisdiction on the disputes that existed in the jurisdiction of the state from which the new state was carved out. The ruling came on a bunch of petitions against the decision of the Uttarakhand high court ordering appointment of Umakant Joshi as general manager of industries with effect from November 16, 1989, when the state of Uttarakhand did not even exist.
As the dispute related to his appointment then rested within the jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh, the Uttrakhand HC, which came into existence on November 9, 2000, could not invoke its jurisdiction in a case from retrospective effect. In fact the petition before the Uttrakhand HC was filed only in 2008.
“The filing of the petition before the Uttrakhand HC claiming retrospective promotion to the Class-I post with effect from November 16, 1989 was misconceived and the HC committed jurisdictional error by issuing direction for his promotion to the post of General Manager from that date,” a bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya ruled.
The top court said only the government of Uttar Pradesh could have dealt with the issue of promotion arising in 1989 not the state of Uttrakhand, which came into existence only on November 9, 2000. “Therefore, the HC of Uttarakhand, which too came into existence on November 9, 2000 did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the petition, more so because the issues raised in the petition involved the examination of the legality of the decision taken by the UP government,” the Supreme Court while setting aside the order of Uttarakhand HC.
However, the top court did not foreclose the right of the parties involved in the case to seek remedy by invoking the jurisdiction of the proper court and also said that its verdict should also not be considered any opinion given on the merits of the case.
The appropriate remedy for the petitioners would be to invoke the jurisdiction of the Allhahabad high court, the top court said.
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