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M/S. Jewellers Khanna Sons v. Naresh Mittal & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 4981 of 2016)Decided 9 May 2016
Civil Appeal No. 4981 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The appellant (a jeweller firm) was before the Supreme Court challenging an interim order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had fixed interim mesne profits (compensation for wrongful occupation of property) at Rs. 1,00,000 per month in a pending Civil Revision Petition. The Supreme Court had earlier, in 2013, stayed that order on condition the appellant deposit Rs. 50,000 per month. The underlying Civil Revision Petition itself remained pending before the High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court finally disposed of this specific appeal, which concerned only the rate of the interim mesne profits, by modifying its own 2013 interim order and directing that, from 19 December 2011, the appellant must deposit mesne profits at Rs. 50,000 per month (rather than the Rs. 1,00,000 fixed by the High Court) as an interim measure. The Court made clear this interim rate would continue until the Civil Revision Petition was finally decided by the High Court, that the respondents could apply to withdraw the deposited amounts, and that any excess payment already made would be adjusted against future instalments. The Court requested the High Court to dispose of the underlying Civil Revision Petition within six months.

Lesson Learnt

An appeal that challenges only an interim figure (like a provisional mesne-profit rate) can be finally and conclusively decided by the Supreme Court even while the main underlying case continues at a lower court: the two are legally separate questions.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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