TMI Blog2011 (12) TMI 656X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Justice Cardozo in his conclusion of the Judicial Process, ending in a constant rejection of the dross and retention of whatever is pure and sound. The multi-dimensional defective legal process adopted by the court below cannot be justified on any rational legal principle. The High Court was swayed away by considerations that are legally impermissible and unsustainable. In view of the above, the appeals succeed and are accordingly allowed. The impugned orders challenged herein are declared to be nullity and as a consequence, the FIR registered by the CBI is also quashed. - CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS. 753-755 of 2009, CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2258-2264 of 2011 (Arising out of SLP(Crl.) Nos. 6503-6509 of 2011) - - - Dated:- 7-12-2011 - CHAUHAN, B.S (DR) AND PATNAIK, A.K. , JJ. JUDGEMENT Dr. B.S. Chauhan, J. 1. Leave granted in the Special Leave Petitions filed by Shri Sumedh Singh Saini. 2. These appeals have been preferred against the orders dated 30.5.2007, 22.8.2007, 5.10.2007 and 4.7.2008 in Crl. Misc. No. 152MA of 2007; order dated 19.9.2007 in Crl. Misc. No. 86286 of 2007 in Crl. Misc. No. 152-MA of 2007; and orders dated 2.11.2007 and 6.11.2007 in Crl. Misc. No ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was declared a proclaimed offender vide order dated 12.5.1993. After completion of the investigation in FIR No.334 of 1991 dated 29.8.1991, the Police chargesheeted eight persons. The chargesheet revealed that an attempt was made by terrorists on the life of the then SSP, Chandigarh, by using explosives. In a thunderous explosion that followed, the Ambassador Car of the SSP, Chandigarh, was blown high into the air whereafter it fell down ahead at some distance completely shattered. HC Amin Chand, the driver of the car and ASI Lalu Ram, PSO, died on the spot. ASI Ramesh Lal, PSO, and CRPF jawans in the Escort vehicle were grievously injured. The bomb explosion was carried out by the terrorists from a parked car in order to kill the SSP, UT, Chandigarh, and other police personnel and this explosion was conducted with explosives operated with a remote control, because of which, two police personnel died on the spot and many others were grievously injured. Three of the accused, namely, Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar alias Master, Partap Singh Maan and Gursharan Kaur Maan were subjected to trial. The other co-accused namely, Navneet Singh, Manjit Singh, Manmohan Jit Singh, Gurjant Singh an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 16.9.2007, for issuance of directions to find out the whereabout of his son Balwant Singh Multani. (H) In response to the show cause notice dated 22.8.2007, the CBI submitted its reply on 3.10.2007 requesting the High Court not to handover the enquiry to the CBI, as it was already overburdened with the investigation of cases referred to it by various courts; suffered from a shortage of manpower and resources; and the case did not have any inter-state ramifications. (I) The High Court vide order dated 19.9.2007 took note of the fact that Manmohan Jit Singh, an employee of IBM, was reported by the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, to be one of the proclaimed offenders. In view thereof, an affidavit was filed by Chandigarh Administration dated 5.10.2007 submitting that the proclaimed offender Manmohan Jit Singh had left for abroad. (J) However, the High Court vide order dated 5.10.2007, directed the CBI to investigate the allegations of Darshan Singh Multani regarding his missing son and further directed the CBI not to disclose the identity of any of the witnesses to anyone except the High Court and to code the names of witnesses as witness A, B C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... having outstanding entries in his Service Book. He is an honest and hardworking officer and has taken drastic steps to curb terrorism in the State in early 1990s. The terrorists had planned a diabolical act and an attempt was made on his life, wherein his three bodyguards were killed and three others were seriously injured. The officer himself suffered grievous injuries. The terrorists had also even chased him up to England when he went there for a social visit. They had planned to attack the said officer. They were arrested by the police and put to trial and also stood convicted. A sentence of four years had been imposed. These appeals have been filed on various grounds, including: the judicial bias of the Judge presiding over the Bench by making specific allegations that the officer named in the order i.e. Shri S.S. Saini had conducted an enquiry against the Presiding Judge (hereinafter called Mr. Justice X ) on the direction of the Chief Justice of Punjab Haryana High Court and, thus, the said Judge ought not to have proceeded with the matter, rather should have recused himself from the case. More so, as the judgment in appeal against acquittal had been passed by the Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... judicata. The CBI submitted that investigation of the said alleged abduction be not tagged with that of the involvement of the officer and disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani, as both the incidents were separate and independent and had no connection with each other. The High Court after taking note of the said submissions in its order dated 6.11.2007 illegally clubbed both the said applications. The applications filed by Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Darshan Singh Multani could not be filed/entertained in the disposed of criminal appeal. Had the said applications been filed independently, the same could be rejected as being filed at a much belated stage. Even otherwise, the said applications could have gone to a different Bench. Thus, by entertaining those applications in a disposed of criminal appeal, the Bench presided over by Mr. Justice X violated the roster fixed by the Chief Justice. Thus, the proceedings are liable to be quashed. 8. On the other hand, S/Shri K.N. Balgopal and Colin Gonsalves,learned senior counsel appearing for respondents private parties and Shri P.K. Dey, learned counsel appearing for the CBI, have submitted that in order to do complete justice i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is made without any substance, it would be disastrous to the system as a whole, for the reason, that it casts doubt upon a Judge who has no personal interest in the outcome of the controversy. 11. In respect of judicial bias, the statement made by Frank J. of the United States is worth quoting:- If, however, bias and partiality be defined to mean the total absence of preconceptions in the mind of the Judge, then no one has ever had a fair trial and no one will. The human mind, even at infancy, is no blank piece of paper. We are born with predispositions . Much harm is done by the myth that, merely by . taking the oath of office as a judge, a man ceases to be human and strips himself of all predilections, becomes a passionless thinking machine. [In re: Linahan, 138 F. 2nd 650 (1943)] (See also: State of West Bengal Ors. v. Shivananda Pathak Ors., AIR 1998 SC 2050). 12. To recall the words of Mr. Justice Frankfurter in Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia v. Franklin S. Pollak, 343 US 451 (1952) 466: The Judicial process demands that a judge moves within the framework of relevant legal rules and the covenanted modes of thought fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iased or, in fact, has really not decided the matter impartially, but whether the circumstances are such as to create a reasonable apprehension in the mind of others that there is a likelihood of bias affecting the decision. (Vide: A.U. Kureshi v. High Court of Gujarat Anr., (2009) 11 SCC 84; and Mohd. Yunus Khan v. State of U.P. Ors., (2010) 10 SCC 539). 15. In Manak Lal, Advocate v. Dr. Prem Chand Singhvi Ors., AIR 1957 SC 425, this Court while dealing with the issue of bias held as under: Actual proof of prejudice in such cases may make the appellant s case stronger but such proof is not necessary . What is relevant is the reasonableness of the apprehension in that regard in the mind of the appellant. 16. The test of real likelihood of bias is whether a reasonable person, in possession of relevant information, would have thought that bias was likely and whether the adjudicator was likely to be disposed to decide the matter only in a particular way. Public policy requires that there should be no doubt about the purity of the adjudication process/administration of justice. The Court has to proceed observing the minimal requirements of natural justice, i.e., the Ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ocabail (UK) Ltd. v. Bayfield Properties Ltd. Anr., (2000) 1 All ER 65, the House of Lords considered the issue of disqualification of a Judge on the ground of bias and held that in applying the real danger or possibility of bias test, it is often appropriate to inquire whether the Judge knew of the matter in question. To that end, a reviewing court may receive a written statement from the Judge. A Judge must recuse himself from a case before any objection is made or if the circumstances give rise to automatic disqualification or he feels personally embarrassed in hearing the case. If, in any other case, the Judge becomes aware of any matter which can arguably be said to give rise to a real danger of bias, it is generally desirable that disclosure should be made to the parties in advance of the hearing. Where objection is then made, it will be as wrong for the Judge to yield to a tenuous or frivolous objection as it will be to ignore an objection of substance. However, if there is real ground for doubt, that doubt must be resolved in favour of recusal. Where, following appropriate disclosure by the Judge, a party raises no objection to the Judge hearing or continuing to hear a ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rder is a nullity and the trial coram non-judice . II. DOCTRINE OF WAIVER: 21. In Manak Lal (Supra), this Court held that alleged bias of a Judge/official/Tribunal does not render the proceedings invalid if it is shown that the objection in that regard and particularly against the presence of the said official in question, had not been taken by the party even though the party knew about the circumstances giving rise to the allegations about the alleged bias and was aware of its right to challenge the presence of such official. The Court further observed that waiver cannot always and in every case be inferred merely from the failure of the party to take the objection. Waiver can be inferred only if and after it is shown that the party knew about the relevant facts and was aware of his right to take the objection in question. Thus, in a given case if a party knows the material facts and is conscious of his legal rights in that matter, but fails to take the plea of bias at the earlier stage of the proceedings, it creates an effective bar of waiver against him. In such facts and circumstances, it would be clear that the party wanted to take a chance to secure a favourabl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... essence of a waiver is an estoppel and where there is no estoppel, there is no waiver. Estoppel and waiver are questions of conduct and must necessarily be determined on the facts of each case . There is no question of estoppel, waiver or abandonment. There is no specific plea of waiver, acquiescence or estoppel, much less a plea of abandonment of right. That apart, the question of waiver really does not arise in the case. Admittedly, the tenants were not parties to the earlier proceedings. There is, therefore, no question of waiver of rights, by Respondents 4-7 nor would this disentitle the tenants from maintaining the writ petition. 25. Thus, from the above, it is apparent that the issue of bias should be raised by the party at the earliest, if it is aware of it and knows its right to raise the issue at the earliest, otherwise it would be deemed to have been waived. However, it is to be kept in mind that acquiescence, being a principle of equity must be made applicable where a party knowing all the facts of bias etc., surrenders to the authority of the Court/Tribunal without raising any objection. Acquiescence, in fact, is sitting by, when another is invading the rights. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ry to the audi alteram partem rule of natural justice. The power of recall is different from the power of altering/reviewing the judgment. However, the party seeking recall/alteration has to establish that it was not at fault. (Vide: Chitawan Ors. v. Mahboob Ilahi, 1970 Crl.L.J. 378; Deepak Thanwardas Balwani v. State of Maharashtra Anr., 1985 Crl.L.J. 23; Habu v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1987 Raj. 83 (F.B.); Swarth Mahto Anr. v. Dharmdeo Narain Singh, AIR 1972 SC 1300; Makkapati Nagaswara Sastri v. S.S. Satyanarayan, AIR 1981 SC 1156; Asit Kumar Kar v. State of West Bengal Ors., (2009) 2 SCC 703; and Vishnu Agarwal v. State of U.P. Anr., AIR 2011 SC 1232). 28. This Court by virtue of Article 137 of the Constitution has been invested with an express power to review any judgment in Criminal Law and while no such power has been conferred on the High Court, inherent power of the court cannot be exercised for doing that which is specifically prohibited by the Code itself. (Vide: State Represented by D.S.P., S.B.C.I.D., Chennai v. K.V. Rajendran Ors., AIR 2009 SC 46). 29. In Smt. Sooraj Devi v. Pyare Lal Anr., AIR 1981 SC 736, this Court held that the prohibition in S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mounts to abuse of the process of court. Therefore, such powers can be exercised by the High Court in relation to a matter pending before a criminal court or where a power is exercised by the court under the Cr.P.C. Inherent powers cannot be exercised assuming that the statute conferred an unfettered and arbitrary jurisdiction, nor can the High Court act at its whim or caprice. The statutory power has to be exercised sparingly with circumspection and in the rarest of rare cases. (Vide: Kurukshetra University Anr. v. State of Haryana Anr., AIR 1977 SC 2229; and State of W.B. Ors. v. Sujit Kumar Rana, (2004) 4 SCC 129). 33. The power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. cannot be resorted to if there is a specific provision in the Cr.P.C. for the redressal of the grievance of the aggrieved party or where alternative remedy is available. Such powers cannot be exercised as against the express bar of the law and engrafted in any other provision of the Cr.P.C. Such powers can be exercised to secure the ends of justice and to prevent the abuse of the process of court. However, such expressions do not confer unlimited/unfettered jurisdiction on the High Court as the ends of justice and ab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... xists no other provision of law by which the party aggrieved could have sought relief. (Vide: The Janata Dal v. H.S. Chowdhary Ors., AIR 1993 SC 892). 36. In Divisional Forest Officer Anr. v. G.V. Sudhakar Rao Ors., AIR 1986 SC 328, this Court held that High Court was not competent under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to stay the operation of an order of confiscation under Section 44(IIA) of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act as it is distinct from a trial before a court for the commission of an offence. 37. In Popular Muthiah v. State represented by Inspector of Police, (2006) 7 SCC 296, explaining the scope of Section 482 Cr.P.C., this Court held : The High Court cannot issue directions to investigate the case from a particular angle or by a particular agency. (Emphasis added) Thus, in case, the High Court in exercise of its inherent powers, issues directions contravening the statutory provisions laying down the procedure of investigation, it would be unwarranted in law. 38. In Rajan Kumar Machananda v. State of Karnataka, 1990 (supp.) SCC 132, this Court examined a case as to whether the bar under Section 397(3) Cr.P.C. can be circumvented by invoking inherent jur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rial jurisdiction. This is to ensure that proceedings undertaken under the Cr.P.C. are executed to secure the ends of justice. For this, the Legislature has empowered the High Court with an inherent authority which is repository under the Statute. The Legislature therefore clearly intended the existence of such power in the High Court to control proceedings initiated under the Cr.P.C. Conferment of such inherent power might be necessary to prevent the miscarriage of justice and to prevent any form of injustice. However, it is to be understood that it is neither divine nor limitless. It is not to generate unnecessary indulgence. The power is to protect the system of justice from being polluted during the administration of justice under the Code. The High Court can intervene where it finds the abuse of the process of any court which means, that wherever an attempt to secure something by abusing the process is located, the same can be rectified by invoking such power. There has to be a nexus and a direct co-relation to any existing proceeding, not foreclosed by any other form under the Code, to the subject matter for which such power is to be exercised. Application under Section 48 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d should not be used to belittle its own existence. One cannot concede anarchy to an inherent power for that was never the wisdom of the Legislature. To confer un-briddled inherent power would itself be trenching upon the authority of the Legislature. V. JURISDICTION OF THE BENCH : 41. The court is not to yield to spasmodic sentiments to vague and unregulated benevolence . The court is to exercise discretion informed by tradition, methodized by analogy, disciplined by system . This Court in State of Rajasthan v. Prakash Chand Ors., AIR 1998 SC 1344 observed as under: Judicial authoritarianism is what the proceedings in the instant case smack of. It cannot be permitted under any guise. Judges must be circumspect and self-disciplined in the discharge of their judicial functions It needs no emphasis to say that all actions of a Judge must be judicious in character. Erosion of credibility of the judiciary, in the public mind, for whatever reasons, is the greatest threat to the independence of the judiciary. Eternal vigilance by the Judges to guard against any such latent internal danger is, therefore, necessary, lest we suffer from self-inflicted mortal wounds . We mu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hile dealing with the issue, this Court held that it was the exclusive prerogative of the Chief Justice to withdraw even a partheard matter from one Bench and to assign it to any other Bench. Therefore, the observations made by the Bench subsequent to withdrawal of the case from that Bench and disposal of the same by another Bench were not only unjustified and unwarranted but also without jurisdiction and made the Judge coram non-judice. It is a settled legal proposition that no Judge or a Bench of Judges assumes jurisdiction unless the case is allotted to him or them under the orders of the Chief Justice. It has rightly been pointed out by the Full Bench of Allahabad High Court in Sanjay Kumar Srivastava v. Acting Chief Justice, 1996 AWC 644, that if the Judges were free to choose their jurisdiction or any choice was given to them to do whatever case they would like to hear and decide, the machinery of the court could have collapsed and judicial functioning of the court could have ceased by generation of internal strife on account of hankering for a particular jurisdiction or a particular case. 43. In view of the above, the legal regime, in this respect emerges to the ef ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ngh Lalan (VIII) v. Union of India, (2006) 6 SCC 613; Rubabbuddin Sheikh v. State of Gujarat Ors., AIR 2010 SC 3175; and Ashok Kumar Todi v. Kishwar Jahan Ors., (2011) 3 SCC 758; held that the court can transfer the matter to the CBI or any other special agency only when it is satisfied that the accused is a very powerful and influential person or the State Authorities like high police officials are involved in the offence and the investigation has not been proceeded with in proper direction or the investigation had been conducted in a biased manner. In such a case, in order to do complete justice and having belief that it would lend credibility to the final outcome of the investigation, such directions may be issued. 48. Thus, in view of the above, it is evident that a constitutional court can direct the CBI to investigate into the case provided the court after examining the allegations in the complaint reaches a conclusion that the complainant could make out prima facie, a case against the accused. However, the person against whom the investigation is sought, is to be impleaded as a party and must be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. CBI cannot be directed t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... othing could be done since the year 1993 by the Chandigarh Police to procure the presence of the proclaimed offenders. The Police by filing the replies had adopted the delaying tactics only to derail the process of the court without bringing the proclaimed offenders to justice. The application filed by the U.T., Chandigarh to file a reply to the application filed by Darshan Singh Multani was rejected. The CBI was further directed to investigate the case properly, as no worthwhile steps were being taken by the Chandigarh Police. The order dated 5.10.2007 passed by the Bench shows that the CBI had been impleaded as respondent in the petition suo motu by the court. The CBI submitted its reply to the Crl.Misc. Application No. 86287 of 2007 opposing the said application and further submitted that the matter be not entrusted to the CBI and petition be dismissed being devoid of any merit. The order dated 6.11.2007 reveals that the Court enlarged the scope of investigation by the CBI by including investigations qua Balwant Singh Bhullar and Manjit Singh. Relevant part of the order dated 4.7.2008 reads as under: After going through the status report, it comes out that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ure the presence of the said proclaimed offenders, namely, Navneet Singh, Manjit Singh, Manmohan Singh, Gurjant Singh and Balwant Singh so that they may face trial. However, after hearing the matter on few dates, the Court vide order dated 5.10.2007 closed the chapter of proclaimed offenders observing as under: Since the police of U.T. Chandigarh has now woken up, that the proclaimed offenders have to be brought to justice and are making efforts to procure their presence, we feel that there is no need for the Special Investigation Team (S.I.T.) The Inspector General of Police, Union Territory, Chandigarh had been directed by this Court vide order dated 5.9.2007 to set up a Special Investigation Team (S.I.T.) for this purpose. At this stage, now, there is no need for this Special Investigation Team. The Inspector General of Police, UT, Chandigarh is directed to disband the Special Investigation Team and proceed as per law in the normal course to procure the presence of the proclaimed offenders, who are allegedly in foreign countries. (Emphasis added) Therefore, it is evident that the court was very much anxious to know about the proclaimed offenders, however, after gettin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er regarding marking of CBI enquiry in the case of abduction of Balwant Singh Multani an Engineer, son of Mr. Darshan Singh Multani a retired IAS Officer, who was then a serving officer. When the answering respondent found that Mr. Sumedh Singh Saini has now been taken to task by the Hon ble Division Bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court, the answering respondent also moved the Hon ble High Court for seeking enquiry regarding the abduction and murder of his father and his maternal uncle who were abducted by the lawless police officials headed by Mr. Sumedh Singh Saini the then SSP of Chandigarh and the Hon ble Bench extended the scope of the enquiry vide order dated 6.11.2007. So the delay is not worthy to be taken note of as the past record of the Mr. Sumedh Singh Saini which has been mentioned in preliminary submissions clearly shows that he was able to threaten and overawe an Hon ble Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge in year 1995 and even though he has been charged by a court for abduction for murder of three individuals in year 1995, but the trial of the case is still pending in the year 2008. So throughout this period the manner in which Mr. Sumedh Singh Saini has been able ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssing such orders even after disposal of the application for leave to appeal as such orders were rather in their favour. The appellants became aggrieved only and only when the High Court entertained the applications filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for tracing out the whereabouts of certain persons allegedly missing for the past 20 years. Such orders did not have any connection with the incident in respect of which the application for leave to appeal had been entertained and rejected. An application for leave to appeal that has been dismissed against an order of acquittal cannot provide a platform for an investigation in a subject matter that is alien and not directly concerned with the subject matter of appeal. Mr. K.N. Balgopal, learned Senior counsel appearing for the respondents has submitted that the issue of bias must be agitated by a party concerned at the earliest and it is not permissible to raise it at such a belated stage. The legal proposition in this regard is clear that if a person has an opportunity to raise objections and fails to do so, it would amount to waiver on his part. However, such person can raise objections only if he is impleaded as a party-respondent i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uent petition of habeas corpus on fresh grounds which were not taken in the earlier petition for the same relief may be permissible. (Vide: Lalubhai Jogibhai Patel v. Union of India Ors., AIR 1981 SC 728; Ajit Kumar Kaviraj v. Distt. Magistrate, Birbhum Anr., AIR 1974 SC 1917; and Sunil Dutt v. Union of India Ors., AIR 1982 SC 53). 64. While dealing with a similar issue, this Court in Srikant v. District Magistrate, Bijapur Ors., (2007) 1 SCC 486 observed as under: Whether any new ground has been taken, has to be decided by the court dealing with the application and no hard-and-fast rule can be laid down in that regard. But one thing is clear, it is the substance and not the form which is relevant. If some surgical changes are made with the context, substance and essence remaining the same, it cannot be said that challenge is on new or fresh grounds . 65. Thus, in view of the above, the law in the issue emerges that a case is to be decided on its facts taking into consideration whether really new issues have been agitated or the facts raised in subsequent writ petition could not be known to the writ petitioner while filing the earlier writ petition. Be that as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 2.4.2008, in spite of the fact that the matter was heard throughout by a particular Division Bench, Mr. Justice X alone held the proceedings, and accepted the status report of the CBI sitting singly, as the proceedings reveal that the other Judge was not holding court on that day. The order sheet dated 2.4.2008 reads as under: Status report, which has been presented by the CBI in Court in a sealed cover, is taken in custody. Hon ble Mr. Justice Harbans Lal, who has to hear the case along with me, as it is a part-heard case, is not holding court today. To come up on 4.4.2008. Sd/- Judge 70. The FIR unquestionably is an inseparable corollary to the impugned orders which are a nullity. Therefore, the very birth of the FIR, which is a direct consequence of the impugned orders cannot have any lawful existence. The FIR itself is based on a preliminary enquiry which in turn is based on the affidavits submitted by the applicants who had filed the petitions under Section 482 Cr.P.C. 71. The order impugned has rightly been challenged to be a nullity at least on three grounds, namely, judicial bias; want of jurisdiction by virtue of application of the provisions of Se ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ce. The issue as to whether the dismissal of the special leave petition by this Court in limine, i.e., by a non-speaking order would amount to affirmation or confirmation or approval of the order impugned before this Court, has been considered time and again. Thus, the issue is no more res integra. A large number of judicial pronouncements made by this Court leave no manner of doubt that the dismissal of the Special Leave Petition in limine does not mean that the reasoning of the judgment of the High Court against which the Special Leave Petition had been filed before this Court stands affirmed or the judgment and order impugned merges with such order of this Court on dismissal of the petition. It simply means that this Court did not consider the case worth examining for a reason, which may be other than merit of the case. An order rejecting the Special Leave Petition at the threshold without detailed reasons, therefore, does not constitute any declaration of law or a binding precedent. The doctrine of res judicata does not apply, if the case is entertained afresh at the behest of other parties. No inference can be drawn that by necessary implication, the contentions rais ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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