A Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan has strongly criticized the Allahabad High Court for passing orders in a case already under review by the apex court. Setting aside the High Court’s interim order that restrained the supply of food items for lactating mothers and young children, the Supreme Court observed that the High Court’s actions were “bordering on an attempt to overreach this Court.” The Court further stated that “the High Court ought to have awaited further orders” before taking any action.
Background of the Case
The case arose from Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 21609 of 2021 filed in the Allahabad High Court concerning the procurement and distribution of food items for lactating mothers and children under a government welfare scheme. On November 11, 2024, the High Court passed an interim order stating that “Tender finalized, if any, in the meantime shall not be acted upon for the purpose of supply without seeking leave of the Court.”
The State of Uttar Pradesh, aggrieved by this order, filed Special Leave Petition (SLP(C) No. 30405/2024) before the Supreme Court, arguing that the High Court had imposed an unwarranted restraint without assigning any reasons, thereby affecting the welfare scheme’s implementation.
Important Legal Issues
The Supreme Court examined two main legal concerns in this case:
Whether the High Court was justified in granting an injunction on food supply without assigning reasons.
Whether the High Court had the jurisdiction to modify its order despite the Supreme Court’s interim stay.
On December 19, 2024, while hearing the State’s petition, the Supreme Court observed that the High Court had “abruptly proceeded to restrain the respondents from acting on the basis of the tender” without citing any justification. The Court held that “Restraining supply of food items to be used by lactating mothers and young children ought not be stalled without reason.”
Despite the Supreme Court’s stay, the Allahabad High Court issued another order on December 20, 2024, modifying its earlier order and directing the State to act upon the supplies for the third and fourth quarters of 2024-25. This action of the High Court prompted further criticism from the Supreme Court.
Important Observations of the Court
The Supreme Court expressed strong disapproval of the High Court’s actions. It made the following key observations:
“We would, thus, expect the High Court to act more responsibly in future,” the Supreme Court stated in its order.
“We are surprised at what the High Court did after the order dated 19th December, 2024 was passed by this Court. The course of action adopted by the High Court was certainly neither warranted nor desirable.”
“The High Court having been apprised of the order of this Court granting interim stay, ideally, ought to have awaited further orders, instead of giving further interim directions as to how the appellants ought to act in the interregnum.”
Decision of the Court
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the State of Uttar Pradesh and set aside the Allahabad High Court’s interim order. The Bench allowed the Uttar Pradesh government to continue implementing the scheme as per the prevailing procedure until the final disposal of the PIL. The Bench also directed that all other interim directions passed in the PIL stand annulled.
