Review Of Judgment/Order Passed Under Section 11 Of The A&C Act Is Not Permissible: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Bench of Justice R. Raghunandan Rao held that power of review is the creature of a statute and in absence of any such provision in a statute, an order/judgment cannot be reviewed on its merit unless it is for some procedural irregularity.

The Court held that the A&C does not, either expressly or by implication, provide for any review of an order passed under Section 11 of the Act, therefore, the Court cannot review such an order on its merit.

Facts

The parties entered into an agreement dated 14.12.2011 for development of apartments on the land owned by the applicants. A dispute arose between the parties, consequently, the respondent filed an application under Section 11 of the Act. The Court allowed the application and appointed the arbitrator.

Grounds for Review

The applicants sought review of the order on the following grounds:

• The claims of the respondent are barred by limitation and the review applicant had accordingly raised objections to that effect, however, the Court erred in observing that no such objection was taken and allowed the application filed by the respondent.
• The review applicant in its counter affidavit had specifically adverted to various dates and even though the express, specific contention, that the application is barred by limitation, may not have been raised, the fact would remain that a reading of the pleadings would clearly show that such a plea has been raised by implication.
• The result of the impugned order is that the right of the review applicant to raise objection regarding the limitation of the respondent's claims is lost, therefore, review application should be allowed.

The respondent objected to the maintainability of the order on the following grounds:

• There is no provision under the A&C Act that allows for review of the order passed under Section 11 of the Act, therefore, the application is not maintainable.

Analysis by the Court

The Court referred to the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Jain Studios Ltd., vs. Shin Satellite Public Co. Ltd, (2006) 5 SCC 501 to hold that the Supreme Court, exercising power under Article 137, can entertain a review against an order/judgment under Section 11 of the A&C Act. However, no such power is conferred on the High Court.

Next, the Court held that that power of review is not an inherent power but the creature of a statute and in absence of any such provision in a statute, an order/judgment cannot be reviewed on its merit unless it is for some procedural irregularity.

The Court observed that the case of the applicant is not that some procedural irregularity was committed by the Court while passing the impugned order but is on merits of the case.

The Court held that the A&C does not, either expressly or by implication, provide for any review of an order passed under Section 11 of the Act, therefore, the Court cannot review such an order on its merit.

Accordingly, the Court dismissed the review application as non-maintainable.

Case Title: Nagireddy Srinivasa Rao versus Chinnari Suryanarayana

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AP) 128

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