The Allahabad High Court has said that if any legal proceeding is sub-judice in an appropriate forum, parallel proceedings cannot be conducted in another court.
A Division Bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Dinesh Pathak passed this order, while hearing a petition filed by Satyam alias Kanhaiya.
The petitioner claimed to be a student of Intermediate and an order of externment has been passed against him on December 27, 2021, against which a statutory appeal was pending before the Divisional Commissioner.
The petition has been filed with a prayer to command the appellate authority to decide the Appeal (Satyam @ Kanhaiya Vs. State) under Section 6 of U.P. Control of Goondas Act, 1970 and stay the externment order till disposal of the appeal on the ground that petitioner is to appear in Board examinations of the year 2022, proposed to be held in March, 2022.
Counsel for the petitioner further places reliance upon an order passed by the Court in Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition, decided on August 24, 2018, in which such protection has been granted by the Court.
Additional Government Advocate opposes the prayer made in the petition and submits that the order relied upon by the petitioner appears to have been passed in the facts of that case and the order of the Court otherwise lays down no principle of law for passing an order of stay when the appeal is pending before a different forum.
Admittedly against the order of externment passed against the petitioner on December 27, 2021 a statutory appeal has been preferred on January 10, 2022. It is stated that dates have been fixed twice in appeal but neither any order has been passed on the stay application nor on the appeal. It is, therefore, submitted that petitioner is entitled to the relief prayed for in the matter, the Court noted.
Law is settled that parallel proceedings ought not to be continued, and once the statutory appeal has already been availed the Court would not be justified in granting interim protection, particularly when the order subjudice in appeal is otherwise not assailed before us, the Court said.
However, in the facts of the case, the court of the view that petitioner’s stay application ought to be considered and decided, expeditiously.
In the facts of the case, the Court directed the appellate authority i.e respondent no 3 to fix a date in the week commencing February 21, 2022 so that the stay application is positively decided on the date fixed and in any event before the commencement of Board Examinations in which the petitioner is supposed to appear. The appellate authority shall also make all endeavours to dispose of the petitioner’s pending appeal within a period of six weeks from the date of presentation of a certified copy of
of the order.
With the above observations / directions, the Court disposed of the writ petition.