High Court Required To Dispose Of Application Filed Under Article 226(3) Within 2 Weeks : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently disposed of a Special Leave Petition challenging an interim status quo order passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, while reminding the High Court of its constitutional obligation under Article 226(3) to decide applications seeking vacation of interim orders within two weeks.A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Prasanna B. Varale noted the submission of the petitioners that their application for vacating the interim order of status quo had been pending before the High Court since January 2025. The Court observed that Article 226(3) of the Constitution mandates that once such an application is filed, the High Court is required to dispose of it within a period of two weeks."At this stage it would be apt and appropriate to note Sub- Article (3) of Article 226 of the Constitution of India which mandates that upon such an application being filed, the High Court would be required to dispose of the same within a period of two weeks."As per Article 226(3), where an ex-parte interim order has been passed in a writ petition, the other party can file an application seeking its vacation, and it should be decided within two weeks. On failure to dispose of the application, the interim order will be vacated.Taking note of this constitutional requirement and the submission of counsel that the matter was already listed before the High Court on January 19, 2026, the Bench requested the High Court to take up the application for vacating the interim order and decide it on its own merits.The Court clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the rival submissions raised by the parties. Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition was disposed of, along with all pending applications.HeadnoteConstitution of India – Article 226(3) – Vacation of Interim Orders – Mandatory Timeline for Disposal – Special Leave Petition filed against an interim order of status quo – Petitioner submitted that an application for vacating the interim order had been pending since January 2025 – Held, Article 226(3) of the Constitution of India mandates that upon an application for vacating an interim order being filed, the High Court is required to dispose of the same within a period of two weeks – In light of this provision, the Supreme Court requested the High Court to take up and dispose of the pending application on its own merits. [Paras 3, 4] Case : Giriraj and others v. Mohd. Amir and othersCitation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 66Click here to read the order

High Court Required To Dispose Of Application Filed Under Article 226(3) Within 2 Weeks : Supreme Court

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High Court Required To Dispose Of Application Filed Under Article 226(3) Within 2 Weeks : Supreme Court

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