Petition Under Article 32 To Challenge A Binding Judgment Not Maintainable : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a petition filed under Article 32 to challenge a binding judgment passed by the Court is not maintainable.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud made this observation while dismissing a petition which sought to declare that the judgment in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal was not a good law and overrule it and the subsequent judgments which followed it. In that judgment, a Constitution Bench had given an interpretation to Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act. 

The relief sought by the petitioner was :

"Issue appropriate writ/writs, order/orders, direction/directions including the writ of Mandamus and commanding the respondent re-interpret the sec. 24 (2) of the land acquisition Act 2013 and declare that judgment dt. 6th March 2020 passed in SLP (C) 9036- 9038 of 2016 etc. Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal and Ors. Reported in (2020) 8 SCC 129 and verdicts passed therein no longer good law and accordingly over rule the same.”

Dismissing the petition, the bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, held :

"A petition under Article 32 of the Constitution cannot be maintained in order to challenge a binding judgment of this Court. We, therefore, decline to entertain the petition. The petition is accordingly dismissed".

Case Title : Vijayalakshmi Jha vs Union of India

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 179

Constitution of India - Article 32- A petition under Article 32 of the Constitution cannot be maintained in order to challenge a binding judgment of this Court

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