Binding effect of Supreme Court decisions prevents amendments in stayed writ petitions from reopening transferred matters.

Where connected writ petitions had been stayed pending the Supreme Court's decision on transferred matters, the High Court was bound to dispose of them consistently with that ruling. A later attempt to amend the petitions to raise a different challenge was rejected because it would have undermined the binding effect of the Supreme Court's determination under Article 141, and would have defeated the uniform disposal contemplated by Article 139A. The court held that amendment powers in pending proceedings cannot be used to reopen or circumvent a conclusion already rendered by the Supreme Court. The amendment petitions were therefore rejected, and the writ petitions could not proceed on a basis inconsistent with the earlier decision.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitioners could be permitted to amend the writ petitions after the Supreme Court had transferred and decided the connected batch of matters, and whether the High Court could reopen the merits contrary to the binding effect of that decision.

Analysis: The writ petitions had remained stayed because similar issues were pending before the Supreme Court under the transfer mechanism. Once the Supreme Court decided the transferred lead matter, the High Court was bound to dispose of the stayed writ petitions in the same manner. The attempt to introduce fresh pleadings to raise a different challenge at that stage would effectively amount to seeking to avoid or nullify the Supreme Court's determination. The power to allow amendment in appropriate appellate or pending proceedings could not be used to defeat the effect of a binding decision already rendered by the Supreme Court, particularly where Article 141 makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts and Article 139A contemplates uniform disposal of such transferred or stayed matters.

Conclusion: The amendment petitions were rightly rejected, and the writ petitions could not be entertained on a basis different from the Supreme Court's decision.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a batch of cases involving the same question has been transferred and decided by the Supreme Court, the High Court must follow that decision in stayed connected matters, and amendments cannot be allowed to circumvent the binding effect of the Supreme Court's ruling.

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