Once An Issue Has Attained Finality, Trial Court Cannot Reopen Or Refer It To HC For Clarification: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court held that once a trial court has finally decided an issue, it lacks jurisdiction to reopen, revisit, or refer the same issue to the High Court, particularly when the order has attained finality and has not been challenged through appropriate legal remedies.A bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli, Justice Rajnesh Oswal observed that permitting re-agitation of a concluded issue would amount to abuse of the judicial process, and that a litigant who has failed to challenge an adverse order cannot be allowed to raise the same issue indirectly at a later stage of the proceedings.The reference arose from a civil suit titled Nisar Ahmad Kakapora & Anr. v. Aijaz Ahmad Kadoo, pending before the Court of the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Bijbehara. The suit pertains to ejectment, recovery of possession, arrears of rent, and mesne profits between the landlords and their tenant.During the pendency of the suit, the trial court framed an issue regarding the maintainability of the suit before a Civil Court under the Jammu and Kashmir Residential and Commercial Tenancy Act, 2012. The said issue was finally decided in favour of the plaintiffs vide order dated 20.02.2023.Subsequently, reliance was placed on an order dated 16.05.2024 passed by a Single Judge in Civil Revision No. 04/2024 (Manoj Kumar v. Dara Singh), wherein observations were made regarding the non-inclusion of the J&K Houses and Shops Rent Control Act in Schedule V of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, raising questions about its continued applicability post-reorganisation.Citing the aforesaid order, the trial court made a reference to the High Court seeking clarification on the maintainability of the suit. Counsel for the plaintiffs contended that the reference was wholly incompetent, as the issue had already been adjudicated and the matter was pending for final arguments. It was argued that once the order dated 20.02.2023 had attained finality, the trial court had no jurisdiction to revisit the issue.Despite service of notice, no appearance was made on behalf of the respondents.Accepting the submissions of the petitioners, the High Court held that an issue once finally decided cannot be reopened by the same court. If aggrieved, the proper remedy lies in challenging the order before a higher forum, court said.The Court clarified that its observations were confined only to answering the reference, and that it had not examined the validity of the trial court's order dated 20.02.2023. It further noted that the broader issue raised in Civil Revision No. 04/2024 would be considered independently in those proceedings.Holding the reference to be incompetent, the High Court answered it accordingly and directed that a copy of the order be sent to the trial court for information.Case-Title: Nisar Ahmad Kakapori and Anr vs Aijaz Ahmad Kadoo& AnrCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (JKL) 18Click Here To Read/Download Order

Once An Issue Has Attained Finality, Trial Court Cannot Reopen Or Refer It To HC For Clarification: J&K&L High Court

Aleem Syeed

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