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Nalini Mehra v. Group Captain H. Kaushal & Anr.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5708 of 2006)Decided 29 Mar 2017
Civil Appeal No. 5708 of 2006
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

The appellant (apparently a landlord) challenged a High Court order that had remanded the case to the Competent Authority to determine the amount of compensation payable to the landlord, while clarifying that, apart from the jurisdiction question, both sides remained free to raise all other contentions before that authority. The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court against this remand order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found no fit case for interference with the High Court's remand order and dismissed the appeal. It reiterated that both sides could raise all available contentions before the Competent Authority except the question of jurisdiction, which stood settled. Pending applications, if any, were disposed of, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

An order sending a compensation dispute back for fresh determination by the competent forum, while finally settling the jurisdiction question, is a complete and valid disposal in itself: parties must pursue their remaining factual contentions before that forum rather than seek to reopen the settled jurisdictional point.

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

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