Supreme Court of India

S. NARAHARI RAOversusSATHYANARAYANA & ORS.

Citation: 2010 INSC 87
Decided: 8 February 2010
Disposal: Disposed off
Bench: DALVEER BHANDARI

Holding

When the Supreme Court has finally decided the dispute, lower courts lack jurisdiction to entertain interim relief and their orders must be set aside, with the matter remitted to the trial court to be decided in accordance with the Supreme Court's judgment.

Summary

The appellant filed a suit and a temporary injunction application in the City Civil Court, Bangalore, seeking to restrain the respondents from constructing on the suit property. The trial court directed the parties to maintain the status quo, but the respondents moved to vacate this order, arguing that the same dispute was pending before the Supreme Court in S.L.P. No.10352 of 2007. The trial court rejected the injunction application, holding that only the Supreme Court could grant interim relief in a matter before it, and the High Court affirmed this view on appeal. The Supreme Court, having decided the underlying dispute in the related civil appeals, set aside both the trial court’s and the High Court’s orders and remanded the case to the trial court to determine the injunction and the suit in conformity with its own judgment. Consequently, the appeal was disposed of without costs.

Issues considered

Whether a lower court can grant or reject a temporary injunction when the same dispute is pending before the Supreme Court.
Whether the High Court's dismissal of the appeal is maintainable after the Supreme Court has decided the substantive dispute.
Whether the order directing the parties to maintain the status quo can be vacated in view of the pending Supreme Court proceedings.

Subjects

temporary injunctionstatus quointerim reliefjurisdictionSupreme Court precedentcivil procedureappeal

Judgment

                          [2010] 2 S.C.R. 583


                           S. NARAHARI RAO                                       A
                                      v.
                     SATHYANARAYANA & ORS.
                   (Civil Appeal No. 1480 of 2010)

                          FEBRUARY 8, 2010
                                                                                 B
      [DALVEER BHANDARI AND A.K. PATNAIK, JJ.]

       Injunction:

      Temporary injunction - Application for, fJ1ed in suit before               C
trial court - Parties directed to maintain status quo - On
defendants' bringing it to notice of court that the entire dispute
was pending before Supreme Court, application for temporary
injunction rejected - On the same ground appeal dismissed
by High Court - HELD: Since the matter pending before                            0
Supreme Court has been decided, impugned orders passed
by High Court and trial court set aside - Matter remitted to
trial court to decide the application for temporary injunction
and the suit in accordance with the judgment of date delivered
by Supreme Court.
                                                                                 E
    CIVIL AP PELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
1480 of 2010.

    From the Judgment & Order 8.6.2009 of the High Court
of Karnataka at Bangalore in Misc. First Appeal No. 2519 of                      F
2009.

    Dushyant A. Dave and P. Vishwanath Shetty, S.U.K.
Sagar, Bina Madhavan, Pantosh Gupta (for Lawyer's Knit &
Co.) R.S. Hegde, Chandra Prakash, Rahul Tyagi, Ashwani                           G
Garg, P.P. Singh for the appearing parties.

      The Order of the Court was delivered by
1.   S. Nagaraj (dead) by Lrs & Ors. vs. B.R. Vasudeva Murthy & Ors etc.. etc.
     2010 (2) SCR 586.
                                     583                                         H
    584      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2010] 2 S.C.R.

A                                 ORDER

          A.K. PATNAIK, J. Leave granted.

        The background facts in which this Civil Appeal has been
B filed are that the appellant filed a suit being O.S. N0.1150 of
  2009 in the City Civil Court, Bangalore, along with an
  application for temporary injunction (l.A.No.1 of 2009) for
  restraining the respondents from putting up any construction on
  the suit property. On 18.02.2009, the City Civil Court, Bangalore,
  while issuing summons/notices to the respondents, directed the
C parties to maintain the status quo in respect of the suit property.
  In response to the summons/notices, the respondents appeared
  in the suit and filed I.A No.2 of 2009 praying to the City Civil
  Court to vacate the order of status quo on the ground that the
  entire dispute was pending before this Court in S.L.P. (C)
D No.10352 of 2007 and other connected SLPs filed against the
  common judgment dated 22.12.2006 of the Division Bench of
  the Karnataka High Court. The Trial Court took the view that
  since the entire dispute is pending before this Court, this Court
  alone has jurisdiction to consider grant of interim relief and by
E its order dated 02.04.2009 rejected the application for
  temporary injunction. The appellant thereafter filed
  Miscellaneous First Appeal No.2519 of 2009 before the
  Karnataka High Court against the order dated 02.04.3009 of
  the City Civil Court, but the Karnataka High Court by its order
F dated 08.06.2009 also dismissed the Miscellaneous First
  Appeal on the ground that the subject-matter of the suit was also
  the subject-matter of S.L.P. (C) No.10352 of 2007 before this
  Court.

         We have heard learned counsel for the parties. On
G   12.07.2007, this Court granted leave in S.L.P. (C) No.10352
    of 2007 and other connected SLPs. On grant of such leave, th~
    matters were re-numbered as Civil Appeal Nos.3038 of-2007
    and other connected Civil Appeals. We have heard these Civil
    Appeals and delivered a common judgment today setting aside
H
 S. NARAHARI RAO v. SATHYANARAYANA & ORS.                    585
              [A.K. PATNAIK, J.]

the common judgment dated 22.12.2006 of the Division Bench          A
of the Karnataka High Court and allowing the writ petitions filed
in the High Court.

    Since we have decided the dispute pending before this
Court, we set aside the impugned order dated 08.06.2009             B
passed by the Karnataka High Court in Miscellaneous First
Appeal No.2519 of 2009 and the order dated 02.04.2009
passed by the City Civil Court, Bangalore, in l.A.Nos.1 and 2
of 2009 and remand the matter to the City Civil Court,
Bangalore, to hear the parties and decide the application for       C
temporary injunction and the suit in accordance with our
judgment delivered today in Civil Appeal Nos.3038 of 2007 and
other connected Civil Appeals.

      The appeal stands disposed of accordingly. No costs. A
copy of the judgment passed today in Civil Appeal Nos.3038          D
of 2007 and other connected Civil Appeals be sent to the City
Civil Court, Bangalore.

R.P.                                     Appeals disposed of.

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