REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL  NO(S).  5153 OF 2019

H. S. YADAV      …APPELLANT(S)

Versus

SHAKUNTALA DEVI PARAKH  …RESPONDENT(S)

J U D G M E N T

Deepak Gupta, J.

“Whether the State Legislature can enact a law providing an

appeal directly to the Supreme Court of India?” is the question

arising in this appeal.

2. The State  of  Chhattisgarh enacted the  Chhattisgarh Rent

Control Act, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’).  Under this

Act, in the hierarchy of adjudicating authorities there is a Rent

Controller and above that, a Rent Control Tribunal.  In terms of

Section 7 of the Act the State can appoint one or more officers

not below the rank of Deputy Collector, as Rent Controller with

territorial jurisdiction to be specified by the Collector.  The Rent

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Control Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Tribunal’) is

constituted under Section 6 of the Act.   This Tribunal has

appellate  and  supervisory jurisdiction.    Section  6 of the  Act

reads as under:­

“6. Constitution of the Rent Control Tribunal.–   (1) The State Government shall by notification constitute, within thirty days of this  Act, a Tribunal in terms of Article 323­B of the Constitution, to be called as Chhattisgarh Rent Control Tribunal, to give effect to the provisions of this Act, and for the adjudication or trial of any disputes, complaints, or offences with respect to rent, its regulation and control and tenancy issues including the rights, title and obligations of landlords and tenants.

Explanation.­ Matters relating to transfer of property and/or disputes regarding title  over  any property shall continue to  be considered  under relevant laws  by the courts of law.

(2) The State Government in consultation with the High Court  shall  appoint the  Chairman of the  Rent  Control Tribunal, a retired Judge of the High Court or serving or retired District Judge not below the rank of Super Time Scale.

(3) The Tribunal shall have such members  with such qualification, as the State Government may prescribe.

(4) The State Government shall appoint an officer as the Registrar of the  Tribunal,  who shall  not  be  below the cadre of Civil Judge Class­I or the rank of Deputy Secretary to the State Government.   

(5) From the date, the Tribunal becomes functional, which date shall be published in the State Gazette, the jurisdiction of  all courts,  except the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 136 and High Court under Articles 226 and  227 of the  Constitution, shall stand excluded in respect of all matters falling within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal:

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Provided, however, that all cases pending before any court or authority immediately before the establishment of the Tribunal, shall continue to be processed under the old Act, as amended from time to time.

(6)  The Tribunal  shall  have  its headquarters at  Raipur and the State Government may, by notification, fix such other places for hearing of matters by the Tribunal, as it deems fit.

(7) The terms and conditions of the service of the Chairman and members of the Tribunal shall be such as may be prescribed by the State Government.”

 3. Section 13 of the Act provides for an appeal against orders

of the Rent Controller and the Tribunal.  It reads thus:­

“13. Appeal.­(1)   Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, a landlord and/or tenant aggrieved by any order of the Rent Controller shall have the right to appeal in the prescribed manner within the prescribed time to the Rent Control Tribunal. (2) Appeal against an order of the Rent Control Tribunal shall lie with the Supreme Court.”

4. A bare perusal of Section 13 shows that from any order of

the Rent Controller an appeal lies to the Rent Control Tribunal

and in terms of Section 13(2), an appeal lies as a matter of right

to the Supreme Court.   

5. When the present appeal, filed under Section 13(2) of the

Act,  came up  for  admission,  while issuing notice  we had also

ordered as follows:­

“xxx xxx xxx

Notice be given to the  learned Advocate General of  the State of Chhattisgarh and the learned Attorney General

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for India as to whether the provisions contained in Section 13(2) of the Chhattisgarh Rent Control Act, 2011 providing for an appeal  to the Supreme Court  of India against the order of the Rent Control Tribunal, Chhattisgarh would be within the legislative competence of the State Legislature.

xxx xxx xxx”

6. Pursuant to the notice, learned Attorney General has

appeared and assisted the Court.

7. At the outset, we would like to point out that the Tribunal

has been constituted in exercise of the powers vested in the State

Legislature under Article 323B of the Constitution of India which

deals with tribunal for other matters.   Sub­clause (h) of Clause

(2) of the said Article which empowers the appropriate legislature

to constitute a tribunal to deal with the issues relating to rent

and its regulations read as follows:­

“323B. Tribunals for other matters.­  

(1)         xxx                        xxx                      xxx

(2)     The matters referred to in clause (1) are the following, namely:­

xxx xxx xxx

(h)   rent, its regulation and control and tenancy issues including the rights, title and interest of  landlords and tenants;”

8. It is not disputed before us that the State has the power to

constitute the Tribunal.   The only issue is whether in terms of

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Section 13(2) of the Act, the State Legislature could provide an

appeal as a matter of right from the order of the Tribunal to the

Supreme Court.   

9. Article 246 of the Constitution specifically provides that

Parliament has exclusive powers to make laws in respect of

matters enumerated in List I (Union List) of the Seventh

Schedule.  Likewise, the State has exclusive powers to make laws

in respect of matters falling in List II (State List) of the Seventh

Schedule.  As far as the Concurrent List, i.e. List III is concerned,

both the Union and the State have the power to enact laws but if

the field is occupied by any law enacted by Parliament then the

State cannot legislate on the same issue.   

10. Entry 77 of List I of the Seventh Schedule reads as under:­

“77. Constitution, organisation,  jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court (including contempt of such Court), and the fees taken therein; persons entitled to practise before the Supreme Court.”

Entry 77 gives power to the Union in respect of jurisdiction

and the powers of  the Supreme Court.  This power cannot be

exercised by the State Legislature.

11. It would also be apposite to refer to Entry 65 of List II of the

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Seventh Schedule, which reads as follows:­

“65. Jurisdiction and  powers of all courts, except the Supreme Court,  with  respect to  any  of the  matters in this List.”

A bare reading of Entry 65 clearly indicates that the State

Legislature has no power to enact any legislation relating to

jurisdiction  and  power of the  Supreme  Court.  This  power is

specifically excluded.  

12. Entry 46 of List III of the Seventh Schedule is also relevant.

This reads as follows:­

“46. Jurisdiction and  powers of all courts, except the Supreme Court,  with  respect to  any  of the  matters in this list.”

Even Entry 46 makes it clear that as far as the

jurisdictional powers of the Supreme Court are concerned, they

cannot be exercised under the Concurrent List.   Therefore, the

powers  with regard to jurisdiction  and  power  of the  Supreme

Court vest  with the  Union  and  Parliament  alone can  enact  a

legislation in this regard.    The  power  of the  Supreme  Court

under Article  136  is always there.  However, the State cannot

enact a legislation providing an appeal directly to the Supreme

Court.  That would amount to entrenching upon the jurisdiction

of the Union, which the State Legislature does not have.  

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13. We are constrained to observe that the men who drafted the

Act did not even consider the hierarchy of Courts.   As pointed

above, the Rent Control Tribunal is headed by a retired Judge of

the  High Court or  District  Judge in the  Super  Time Scale  or

above.   What was the rationale of making such an order

appealable directly to the Supreme Court?   We see no reason

why the supervisory jurisdiction  of the  High  Court should  be

excluded.   

14.  We, therefore, have no doubt in our mind that Section 13(2)

of the  Act, in so far as it provides an  appeal directly to the

Supreme Court, is totally illegal, ultra vires the Constitution and

beyond the scope of the powers of the State Legislature.  Section

13(2) of the Act is accordingly struck down.   

15. While dealing with the issue, we may make reference to the

fact that the Rent Control Tribunal is a tribunal constituted

under Article 323B of the Constitution.

16. In L. Chandrakumar vs. Union of India1, this Court clearly

held that tribunals constituted under Articles 323A and 323B of

the Constitution are subject to the writ jurisdiction of the High

Courts.   In view of  the  law laid down in  L. Chandrakumar’s

1 (1993) 4 SCC 119  

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case  (supra), the High Court can exercise its supervisory

jurisdiction  under  Article 227 of the  Constitution against the

orders of the Rent Control Tribunal.   

17. In view of the above, we hold that an appeal under Section

13 (2) of the Act directly to the Supreme Court is not

maintainable.   We, therefore, dismiss this appeal.   However, we

leave  it  open to the appellant to  approach the High Court for

redressal of his grievance under Article 227 of the Constitution.

If the appellant does so, the High Court shall decide the matter

strictly in  accordance with  law.  Pending application(s) if  any,

stand(s) disposed of.

…….…....................J. [DEEPAK GUPTA]

..…..…....................J. [SURYA KANT]

NEW DELHI OCTOBER 15, 2019

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