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S.P Sampath Kumar And Others v. Union Of India And Others
Factual and Procedural Background
The Supreme Court of India is seized of several writ petitions challenging matters that fall under a recently established Tribunal system. On 1 November 1985 the Court issued the present interim order: (i) directing that rule nisi be issued on all the writ petitions, (ii) fixing their final hearing before a Constitution Bench of five judges on 7 January 1986, and (iii) determining interim arrangements for pending and future litigation in both the Supreme Court and the High Courts until the constitutional questions are decided.
Legal Issues Presented
- Whether writ petitions filed under Article 32 of the Constitution should continue to be entertained by the Supreme Court or be transferred to the newly created Tribunal pending final adjudication.
- What interim safeguards are necessary to ensure the independence, composition, and accessibility of the Tribunal while constitutional challenges remain unresolved.
Arguments of the Parties
Union of India (through the Attorney-General)
- Expressed the Government’s willingness to establish additional Benches of the Tribunal at the seats of High Courts wherever the caseload justifies such expansion.
- Indicated that a Bill to amend the governing statute and facilitate the creation of extra Benches would be introduced shortly in Parliament.
Table of Precedents Cited
No precedents were cited in the provided opinion.
Court's Reasoning and Analysis
The Court treated the matter as one requiring urgent interim measures because the constitutional validity of the Tribunal system is yet to be determined. Emphasising that “courts should come closer to the people and not run far away from them,” it fashioned practical arrangements that balance judicial accessibility with orderly administration:
- Stay of Transfer: All pending and future Article 32 petitions will remain in the Supreme Court, ensuring uninterrupted access to constitutional remedies.
- High Court Matters: Proceedings under Article 226 and allied suits or appeals will continue in the High Courts, but subject to safeguards on Tribunal composition and circuit sittings.
- Tribunal Composition: Each Bench must include one judicial and one non-judicial member; in the event of disagreement the Chairman will resolve the matter. Future judicial appointments require consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
- Accessibility Measures: Where no Tribunal Bench sits at a High Court seat, at least one member of the Tribunal must make himself available within specified timeframes to hear interim relief applications, thereby preserving litigants’ access to justice.
- Future Expansion: The Court adjourned the main writ petitions to 9 December 1985, directing the Government to collect workload statistics and indicate how many additional Benches it proposes to establish.
Holding and Implications
Interim Order Granted. The Supreme Court:
- Issued rule nisi and scheduled the constitutional challenge for hearing on 7 January 1986 before a five-judge Bench.
- Stayed any transfer of Article 32 petitions to the Tribunal and allowed the Registry to continue accepting such petitions.
- Imposed detailed conditions on the operation and composition of the Tribunal, ensuring judicial oversight and physical access for litigants.
- Dismissed Civil Miscellaneous Petition No. 40678.
- Allowed transfer petitions, ordering that transferred writ petitions be heard together with the present matters.
- Directed the Registrar to circulate this order to all High Courts.
Implications: The interim arrangement maintains the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over fundamental rights petitions while safeguarding litigants’ access to justice in High Courts. It signals possible statutory amendments and expansion of Tribunal Benches but sets no lasting precedent until the constitutional questions are finally decided.
1. Issue rule nisi on the writ petitions. The writ petitions shall be heard by a Constitution Bench of five Judges on January 7, 1986 as first item on Board on that date.
2. So far as the application for interim relief is concerned, there will be stay of transfer of writ petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution pending in this Court and the Registry of this Court will continue to receive writ petitions under Article 32 which may be filed hereafter. This Court will be entitled to deal with the writ petitions under Article 32 and pass orders in those writ petitions.
3. So far as the writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution pending in the High Courts as also suits or appeals pending in the subordinate Courts are concerned, there will be no order of stay, subject to the following conditions:
(1) Appointments of “Judicial” Members of the Tribunal to be made hereafter shall be in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. However, appointments already made will not be disturbed.
(2) Each Bench of the Tribunal will consist of one Judicial Member and one non-Judicial Member and in case of difference of opinion between them, the case shall be referred for decision to the Chairman of the Tribunal.
(3) Where no Bench of the Tribunal is located at the place where there is seat of the High Court, any application or petition in regard to the matters covered by the Act will be filed in the Registry of the High Court and as soon as such application or petition is filed, intimation shall immediately be sent to the Bench of the Tribunal having jurisdiction over that area and if there is an application for interim relief made in such petition or application, a member of the Bench will make himself available at the seat of the High Court for hearing the application for interim relief within one week from the receipt of the intimation and until then, status quo as on the date of the filing of the application for interim relief shall be maintained. One member of the Tribunal will also in such case be available at the seat of the High Court at least once in every 10 days unless there is no application or petition for interim relief for hearing within the period of 10 days and in any event he shall be available at the place where the seat of the High Court is situate not later than 14 days from the date when an order for interim relief has been made by him. This provision will apply not only to new cases which may be filed but also to pending cases, except those cases where interim relief has already been refused by the High Court prior to November 1, 1985. The Bench of the Tribunal will also in such case not take up for final hearing any applications or petitions except at the place where the seat of the High Court is situate. The Bench of the Tribunal may go on circuit for this purpose.
4. This Order made by us is purely an interim order which will operate until further orders of this Court. The writ petitions will stand adjourned to December 9, 1985 in order to enable the Government to decide whether additional Benches are required to be set up at the seats of those High Courts where no Bench of the Tribunal is at present located. The learned Attorney-General has fairly stated that the Government is agreeable to set up additional Benches at the seats of those High Courts where the work-load of the cases coming within the provisions of the Act, so justifies. It is in order to enable the Government to work out this suggestion that we are adjourning the writ petitions to December 9, 1985 so that by that time the necessary statistical information in regard to the work-load shall have been collected and we would expect the Government to state on that date as to how many additional Benches are proposed to be set up by the Government at the places where the seats of the other High Courts are situate. The basic principle of administration of justice is that the courts should come closer to the people and not run far away from them. The learned Attorney-General has also stated that a Bill for carrying out whatever amendments are necessary for this purpose will be introduced shortly in Parliament.
5. Civil Miscellaneous Petition 40678 is dismissed.
6. Transfer petitions are allowed and the transferred writ petitions will be heard along with the present writ petitions.
7. The Registrar will immediately forward a copy of this Order to each of the High Courts in the country.
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