A 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court is hearing today the reference against the 2018 judgment in Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency P. Ltd. Director V. Central Bureau of Investigation as per which interim orders of stay granted by High Courts and other courts in civil and criminal cases will automatically expire after a period of six months unless the orders are specifically extended.
The bench comprises Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Misra (High Court Bar Association Allahabad v. Union of India).
It was on December 1 that a three-judge bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra referred Asian Resurfacing to a 5-judge bench, after expressing reservations about the dictum regarding automatic stay vacation. Incidentally, on the same day, another bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal,also expressed reservations about the judgment.
The reference arouse out of an appeal filed by the High Court Bar Association Allahabad based on a Certificate of Appeal granted by the Allahabad High Court which raised a set of doubts regarding the Asian Resurfacing judgment. In its judgment delivered on November 3, a 3-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court framed ten questions for the deliberation of the Supreme Court in relation to the dictum of automatic vacation of stay.
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