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National Technical Research Organisation & Ors. vs. Sandeep

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8055-DBDecided 16 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 13532/2026CNR: DLHC010439132026
Justice C. Hari Shankar · Justice Vinod Kumar

Background

After the Central Administrative Tribunal decided an original service dispute against the government employer partly on the basis of submissions made by the employer's own counsel, the High Court had earlier (in a separate case) declined to interfere but gave the employer liberty to file a review application before the Tribunal. When that review application was filed, the Tribunal dismissed it "in circulation", meaning without a hearing, prompting the employer to come back to the High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court held that once it had specifically granted liberty to file a review application, the Tribunal ought to have heard the parties before deciding it, rather than dismissing it without a hearing. Without expressing any opinion on whether the review should ultimately succeed, the Court quashed the Tribunal's circulation-dismissal order and sent the review application back to the Tribunal for fresh consideration after actually hearing both sides, directing the parties to appear before the Tribunal on a fixed date without seeking adjournments.

Lesson Learnt

When a court gives a party specific permission to pursue a review remedy, the body hearing that review cannot simply reject it on paper without giving both sides a chance to be heard: basic fairness in procedure applies even at the review stage.

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