The Ambala Bus Syndicate Private Ltd. vs State Government And Ors. on 1 June, 1962
Correction of accidental slips or omissions or clerical of arithmetical mistakes or mistakes inadvertently made like the one found to exist in Debi Bakhsh Singh v. Habib Shah, ILR 35 All 331, or In re Komara-swami, AIR 1951 Mad 766, might well fall within the inherent power of Courts and quasi-judicial tribunals. It is one thing to say that clerical or accidental mistakes and errors may be corrected under inherent power, or ultra vires and wholly invalid orders which are without jurisdiction and, therefore, nullities, should be ignored or recalled or orders tainted with similar infirmities may be set right, it is quite another thing to throw over-board the established doctrine of res judicata. Against this, our judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals must carefully guard, and however tempting the considerations of administrative convenience in a given case of hardship, they are expected to resist the temptation and firmly decline to yield by assuming in themselves any inherent power to vary the final determinations, merely because they may be later shown to be wrong or unjust in some respect, for, otherwise there would be no finality to litigation and controversies and no solemnity of judgments and determinations
The respondent has, however, relying on the two unreported Single Bench decisions mentioned above, argued that I should follow those decisions, and hold that the Tribunals under the Motor Vehicles Act do possess an inherent power of review. It is true that I should ordinarily follow Single Bench decisions and that in case I do not agree with the view taken therein 1 should refer the matter to a larger Bench. That is a healthy and a wholesome practice deserving of adoption and indeed is adopted by the Courts in this country, In the present case, however, I am inclined to take the view that the petitioner is not entitled to a high prerogative writ because of there being no grave or serious manifest injustice in the matter, with the result that I do not find called upon to refer the matter to a larger Bench for considering the question of the inherent power of review vesting in the tribunals under the Motor Vehicles Act. The question will perhaps have to be considered in a more suitable case when the point arises for direct determination. In the case in hand the matter having been merely remanded back to the Appellate Authority for considering the whole matter over again, I do not think there is any occasion for the exercise of the discretionary power of granting a prerogative writ. Bishan Narain, J. in Civil Writ No. 511 of 1960 (Punj) also declined to interfere on the ground that the matter had not been decided finally. Let the question be finally determined, and then the aggrieved party would have sufficient opportunity of having relief against the offending decision in accordance with law.