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Snehasish Mukherjee v. Union of India

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 664 of 2015)Decided 21 Sept 2015
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 664 of 2015
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel

Background

The petitioner had made several representations on the subject matter of the petition to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, the last one dated 5 August 2015, and complained that none of these representations had received any reply from the Ministry.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court did not go into the merits of the underlying grievance itself. It recorded its expectation ("hope") that the Ministry of Home Affairs would consider the petitioner's representations and respond to them at an early date, and on that basis disposed of the writ petition in full: it did not retain the matter, impose a deadline, or direct any specific relief beyond that expectation.

Lesson Learnt

Courts will sometimes dispose of a writ petition seeking "a reply" from a government authority simply by recording an expectation that the authority will respond, rather than issuing a binding timeline, so this kind of order secures moral/administrative pressure for a response, not a guaranteed substantive outcome or enforceable deadline.

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

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