Interim relief order cannot finally dispose of a writ petition when merits were left for later consideration.

An order passed on an application for interim relief cannot be treated as finally disposing of a writ petition when the wording of the order shows that the merits were left for later consideration. The Supreme Court of India held that the High Court's conditional direction, including payment of the balance amount with interest if the writ petition were dismissed, indicated that the writ petition had not been adjudicated on merits. The direction treating the writ petition as finally disposed of was therefore set aside, and the writ petition was restored to the pending file for substantive decision, with the time for deposit and filing the undertaking extended.

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Issues: Whether the High Court could treat the writ petition as finally disposed of while passing a conditional order on the miscellaneous petition for interim relief, and whether the writ petition had to be restored to the pending file for adjudication on merits.

Analysis: The order under challenge, read as a whole, showed that the High Court was dealing with interim relief and had contemplated future consideration of the writ petition. The direction that, in the event of dismissal of the writ petition, the appellant would pay the balance amount with interest indicated that the writ petition was not being decided on merits at that stage. In that situation, the operative direction disposing of the writ petition could not stand.

Conclusion: The direction treating the writ petition as finally disposed of was set aside, and the writ petition was held to remain pending before the High Court for decision on merits. The time granted for deposit and filing of the undertaking was extended.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded to the extent of restoring the writ petition to the High Court for substantive adjudication, while granting consequential time-bound reliefs.

Ratio Decidendi: An order passed on an application for interim relief cannot be treated as finally disposing of the writ petition if the order itself shows that merits were left for later consideration.

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