Overruled precedent cannot support writ relief when its legal foundation has already been displaced.

An earlier decision cannot be relied on for relief once the legal foundation supporting it has been overruled. The Supreme Court explained that Annapurna Biscuit Manufacturing Co. had been built on authorities later displaced by R.S. Joshi v. Ajit Mills, so it stood overruled to that extent and could not sustain the High Court's writ relief. A later reference in Kasturi Lal Harlal to the substituted provision did not revive the invalidated position or reopen a concluded judgment. The Court also noted that the continued survival of section 29-A in the relevant form was at least debatable, so a mistake apparent on record could not be assumed under section 22. The High Court relief was therefore unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether the High Court could grant relief on the basis of Annapurna Biscuit Manufacturing Co. notwithstanding the later overruling of the foundation on which that decision rested, and whether the impugned writ relief could therefore be sustained.

Analysis: The judgment explains that Annapurna Biscuit Manufacturing Co. was founded on earlier authorities which were later overruled in R.S. Joshi v. Ajit Mills. Once the legal foundation of the earlier decision was removed, that decision stood pro tanto overruled and could not continue to be treated as a valid basis for granting relief. The later reference in Kasturi Lal Harlal to the substituted provision did not amount to a revival of the earlier invalidated legal position, nor did it reopen a concluded judgment. The Court also accepted that the question whether section 29-A continued to survive in the relevant form was at least debatable, so the existence of a mistake apparent on record could not be assumed for the purpose of section 22.

Conclusion: The relief granted by the High Court on the strength of Annapurna Biscuit Manufacturing Co. could not be sustained, and the appeals succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: When the legal foundation of an earlier decision is later overruled, the earlier decision stands overruled to that extent and cannot be relied upon as a basis for relief unless it is independently sustainable in law.

---