The Supreme Court has held today that a party aggrieved against an order of NCDRC can approach the Supreme Court under Article 136 of the Constitution for grant of special leave to appeal only against an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission if the same is passed by the NCDRC in its original jurisdiction. It further said that no further appeal shall lie against the orders passed by it in exercise of its appellate or revisional jurisdiction.

The bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra held in the judgment that, “..the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to grant special leave to appeal can be invoked in very exceptional circumstances. The question of law of general public importance or a decision which shocks the conscience of the Court are some of the prime requisites for the grant of special leave. The provisions of Article 136 of the Constitution as such are not circumscribed by any limitation. But when the party aggrieved has alternative remedy to go before the High Court, invoking its writ jurisdiction or supervisory jurisdiction as the case may be, this Court should not entertain petition seeking special leave thereby short-circuit the legal procedure prescribed. The limitation, whatever, they be are implicit in the nature and character of the power itself. It being an exceptional and overriding power, naturally it has to be exercised sparingly and with caution and only in very exceptional situations. The power will only be used to advance the cause of justice and its exercise will be governed by well-established principles which govern the exercise of overriding constitutional powers.”

The Court dismissed the SLP without considering its merits but granted liberty to the petitioner to challenge the order of the NCDRC in an appropriate proceeding before High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution. The court said:-

“we have reached to the conclusion that we should not adjudicate this petition on merits. We must ask the petitioner herein to first go before the jurisdictional High Court either by way of a writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution or by invoking the supervisory jurisdiction of the jurisdictional High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution. Of course, after the High Court adjudicates and passes a final order, it is always open for either of the parties to thereafter come before this Court by filing special leave petition, seeking leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution.”

Case details:-

Case Title:

M/S Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd. V. Suresh Chand Jain

Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 5263 Of 2023

Click here to read/download the judgment