Challenge to a property transaction on the ground of breach of...

Challenge to a property transaction on the ground of breach of statutory conditions under FERA and absence of requisite RBI approval could not be reopened in writ jurisdiction when the same issue had been framed and adjudicated in a civil suit and affirmed in first appeal. Once an appellate court under Section 96 CPC recorded clear findings, a writ court cannot re-examine the identical controversy; the proper course was to lead evidence in the trial and pursue statutory remedies against adverse findings. Recasting the dispute as a statutory violation did not avoid finality and was barred by constructive res judicata. The appeal was dismissed. - HC

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