1994 (10) TMI 310 - SC - Indian Laws

Government servants must exhaust statutory remedies before High Court, Supreme Court rules. Case transferred to Tribunal for review.

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, ruling that government servants must exhaust statutory remedies before approaching the High Court. The High Court ... Statutory remedy - relegation to statutory tribunal - judicial review under Article 226 - scope of Article 136 interferenceStatutory remedy - relegation to statutory tribunal - Whether the High Court was justified in entertaining the writ petition instead of directing the respondent to first avail himself of the statutory remedy before the U.P. Public Services Tribunal. - HELD THAT: - The Court held that where a statutory Tribunal is specially constituted to consider service grievances of State government servants, it is a statutory obligation for those servants to first avail themselves of that remedy. The judgment notes that two Division Benches of the High Court correctly declined to entertain similar writ petitions and directed parties to approach the Tribunal. A subsequent Division Bench, which entertained the writ petition after pleadings were complete and directed early disposal, was held to be unjustified. The Court emphasised that if aggrieved by the Tribunal's order, the remedy of writ under Article 226 remains available, but initial resort must be to the statutory forum. [Paras 4]High Court was not justified in entertaining the writ petition; the respondent must first avail the statutory remedy before the Tribunal.Judicial review under Article 226 - scope of Article 136 interference - Direction as to the disposal of the matter following the conclusion that the writ petition should not have been entertained and whether the papers should be transmitted to the Tribunal. - HELD THAT: - The Court allowed the appeal under Article 136, rejecting the contention that completion of pleadings and a direction for early disposal justified bypassing the statutory remedy. The appellate Court requested the High Court to transmit the papers to the U.P. Public Services Tribunal so that the respondents may avail themselves of the statutory remedy; it reiterated that recourse to Article 226 remains open after the Tribunal's decision. [Paras 5]Papers to be transmitted to the Tribunal; respondents are permitted to pursue the statutory remedy before the Tribunal and thereafter, if aggrieved, seek judicial review.Final Conclusion: Appeal allowed; High Court's order entertaining the writ petition set aside and papers directed to be transmitted to the U.P. Public Services Tribunal so that the respondent may avail the statutory remedy; recourse to Article 226 remains available thereafter. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal in a case regarding promotion to the post of Chief Engineer in U.R Jal Nigam. The Court held that government servants must first avail themselves of the statutory remedy before approaching the High Court. The High Court was requested to transmit the case to the Tribunal for consideration.