Interim relief pending statutory appeal should usually come from the appellate forum; limited protection only to enable appeal filing.

Interim relief granted by the High Court to continue until disposal of statutory appeals was disapproved as a general course, because such protection should ordinarily be sought from the appellate authority after the writ petitioners are relegated to the appellate remedy. At most, interim protection may be granted for a limited period to enable filing of the appeal and requesting further relief there. On the facts, however, interference was declined since the appeals were already listed for hearing shortly, and the impugned orders were left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the High Court was justified in granting interim relief to operate till disposal of the statutory appeals after relegating the writ petitioners to the appellate remedy.

Analysis: The direction granting interim relief till disposal of the appeal was not approved, as such relief should ordinarily be considered by the appellate authority and, at the highest, could have been granted for a limited period to enable the filing of an appeal and a request for interim protection therein. However, in view of the fact that the appeals were already fixed for hearing shortly, interference was declined on the facts.

Conclusion: The impugned orders were not interfered with, and the appeals were disposed of.

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