Sanjay Kumar Agarwal and Ors. Vs. State Tax Officer (1) and Ors. - (Supreme Court) (31 Oct 2023)

A co-ordinate Bench cannot comment upon the discretion exercised or judgment rendered by another co-ordinate Bench of the same strength

MANU/SC/1198/2023

Insolvency

Present batch of five Review Petitions seeks to review the common judgment and Order passed by present Court. The question raised in present matter is whether the Review Petitioners have been able to make out any case within the ambit of XLVII of Supreme Court Rules, read with Order XLVII of Code of Civil Procedure, for reviewing the impugned judgment.

Any passing reference of the impugned judgment made by the Bench of the equal strength could not be a ground for review. It is well settled proposition of law that a co-ordinate Bench cannot comment upon the discretion exercised or judgment rendered by another co-ordinate Bench of the same strength. If a Bench does not accept as correct the decision on a question of law of another Bench of equal strength, the only proper course to adopt would be to refer the matter to the larger Bench, for authoritative decision, otherwise the law would be thrown into the state of uncertainty by reason of conflicting decisions.

Apart from the well-settled legal position that a co-ordinate Bench cannot comment upon the judgment rendered by another co-ordinate Bench of equal strength and that subsequent decision or a judgment of a co-ordinate Bench or larger Bench by itself cannot be regarded as a ground for review, the submissions made by the learned Counsels for the Review Petitioners that the court in the impugned decision had failed to consider the waterfall mechanism as contained in Section 53 and failed to consider other provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), are factually incorrect. As evident from the bare reading of the impugned judgment, the Court had considered not only the Waterfall mechanism Under Section 53 of IBC but also the other provisions of the IBC for deciding the priority for the purpose of distributing the proceeds from the sale as liquidation assets.

The well-considered judgment sought to be reviewed does not fall within the scope and ambit of Review. The learned Counsels for the Review Petitioners have failed to make out any mistake or error apparent on the face of record in the impugned judgment, and have failed to bring the case within the parameters laid down by this Court in various decision for reviewing the impugned judgment. Review Petitions are dismissed.

Tags : SCOPE REVIEW MAINTAINABILITY