Chief Controller, Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Co. Ltd. v. T.T. Industries Ltd. & Anr.
Background
The appellant electricity distribution company had earlier been ordered by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity to pay simple interest at 10% per annum on an outstanding amount owed to the respondent, T.T. Industries Ltd. The appellant had filed appeals (along with related interlocutory applications) before the Supreme Court challenging this interest award, raising issues identical to those already decided against it in other connected appeals.
Decision Breakdown
The Court noted that appeals raising identical issues had already been dismissed, with the Tribunal's award of 10% simple interest being upheld in those cases. Applying the same reasoning, the Court dismissed these appeals as well and disposed of the connected interlocutory applications.
Lesson Learnt
Where the Supreme Court has already settled a legal issue in one set of appeals, parties raising the identical point in a connected or follow-on appeal should expect the same outcome: courts will not re-litigate a question already decided on the same facts and issues.