Single Judge Not Subordinate To Division Bench In Intra-Court Appeal, Both Exercise Same Jurisdiction
In ROMA SONKAR vs MADHYA PRADESH STATE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, in a writ petition pertaining to a service matter, the single bench granted the petitioner consequential benefits on appointment and seniority. The division bench, on the writ appeal filed by the State Public Service Commission, did not agree with the relief moulded by the single judge. The matter was thus remitted to the single judge in the matter of moulding the relief.
On appeal, the Supreme Court expressed ‘serious reservation’ about a division bench of a high court remitting a matter to single bench for moulding relief and observed that the single judge is not subordinate to the division bench.
The bench further observed that it is only to avoid inconvenience to the litigants, another tier of screening by the division bench is provided in terms of the power of the high court but that does not mean that the single judge is subordinate to the division bench and being a writ proceeding, the Division Bench was called upon, in the intra court appeal, primarily and mostly to consider the correctness or otherwise of the view taken by the learned Single Judge.
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