Pendency before the Supreme Court does not justify delaying decision on a pending representation; modification was refused.

Pendency of similar appeals before the Supreme Court did not justify keeping a pending representation in abeyance or preventing the authorities from deciding it according to law. The High Court therefore declined to modify or delete the earlier direction requiring decision within a fixed time. The application for modification was rejected, and the original direction to decide the representation remained operative, with the time for compliance extended to 31 March 2002.

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Issues: Whether the direction requiring the respondents to decide the petitioner's representation within a fixed time was liable to be modified or deleted merely because similar issues were pending before the Supreme Court.

Analysis: The Court held that the pendency of appeals in other matters before the Supreme Court did not justify keeping the pending representation in abeyance or preventing the authorities from deciding it in accordance with law. The requested modification of the earlier order was therefore not permissible. While rejecting the application, the Court extended the time for deciding the representation up to 31 March 2002.

Conclusion: The application for modification was rejected and the earlier direction to decide the representation remained in force, with the time for compliance extended.

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