Review jurisdiction cannot reopen a concluded judgment; a pay-scale dispute must be raised in fresh proceedings on its own merits.

Review jurisdiction is confined to narrow limits and cannot be used as a disguised appeal or a device to obtain reconsideration of a concluded judgment. A request framed as clarification could not reopen the earlier writ decision, particularly where the disputed pay-scale issue had not been adjudicated in that proceeding and any fresh challenge had to be raised in an appropriate proceeding on its own merits, subject to res judicata and constructive res judicata. Subsequent events may give rise to a new cause of action, but contempt proceedings and a plea of compliance did not justify review of the final judgment. The review application was therefore not maintainable and was dismissed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the review application seeking clarification and reconsideration of the earlier writ judgment was maintainable, and whether the disputed pay-scale question could be reopened in review after dismissal of the special leave petition.

Analysis: A review lies only within narrow limits and cannot be used to obtain indirectly what cannot be achieved directly. The earlier writ judgment had granted relief, and the question now sought to be raised had not been adjudicated in that proceeding. If the applicable pay-rule controversy arose, it had to be agitated in an appropriate proceeding on its own merits, subject to the doctrines of res judicata and constructive res judicata. A subsequent event may found a fresh cause of action, but the filing of contempt proceedings and the plea of compliance did not justify reopening the concluded matter in review. A request styled as clarification could not be used to nullify the effect of the judgment.

Conclusion: The review application was not maintainable, and the High Court was justified in dismissing it. The pay-rule controversy was left to be decided, if necessary, in appropriate future proceedings according to law.

Ratio Decidendi: Review cannot be employed as a disguised appeal or clarification to reopen a concluded adjudication, and a matter not decided in the earlier proceeding must, if at all, be pursued in a fresh proceeding on its own cause of action.

---