All Courts In This Country Are Bound By The Judgment Of The Apex Court, Says Supreme Court [Read Order]

All Courts in this country are bound by the judgment of the Apex Court, the Supreme Court remarked while disposing a special leave petition on Thursday.

Justice RF Nariman led bench was considering an SLP filed against a Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment in a land acquisition matter. It was submitted before the bench that the petitioner apprehends that the Executing Court may not follow the Supreme Court's Judgment in Gurpreet Singh v. UOI (2006) 8 SCC 457. In this context, the bench observed:

"We make it clear that this apprehension is totally without basis for the reason that all Courts in this country, including the Executing Court, are bound by the judgment of the Apex Court."

Observing thus, the bench disposed the special leave petition.

In Gurpreet Singh, the constitution bench had held that the claimants would be entitled for interest on solatium and additional market value if the award of the Reference Court or that of the appellate Court does not specifically refer to the question of interest on solatium and additional market value or where the claim had not been rejected either expressly or impliedly.The apprehension raised by the petitioner was because in paragraph 27 of the judgment, the High Court said that the writ petition filed by Government was liable to be allowed, although it was only partly allowed.

Justice Nariman led bench had made similar remarks in another order recently. "We must remind the Magistrates all over the country that in our pyramidical structure under the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court is at the Apex, and the High Courts, though not subordinate administratively, are certainly subordinate judicially." the court had said while holding that the directions issued in Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency Private Limited. vs. Central Bureau of Investigation ought to be followed.

Article 141 of the Constitution states that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India.

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