IMPORTANT POINT
Law declared by Supreme Court - Binding on all courts.

ORDER :

1. Leave granted.

2. It passes comprehension that how the judge has passed the impugned interim order which runs expressly contrary to the decision of this Court in K.S. Verghese vs. St. Peters & St. Pauls Syrian Orthodox Church and Others, (2017) 15 SCC 333. This Court has passed several judgments and orders to the effect that no such interference can be made by any court after the decision has been rendered by this Court in a representative suit which is binding on all concerned and it is the constitutional duty of all concerned to obey the judgment and order of this Court. As per Article 141 of the Constitution of India, the law declared by this Court is binding on all courts and under Article 144, civil and judicial authorities within the territory of India shall act in aid of Supreme Court. Kerala being Indian Territory all concerned are bound to act accordingly. We have intended peace to come in Church but due to such orders passed in contravention of law laid down by this Court law can never be obeyed. This amount to a violation of judgment and order. The High Court has passed an interim order in violation of the judgments and orders passed by this Court. We are not able to understand what kind of judicial discipline is reflected while passing the impugned order, which should not have been passed at all. We restrain all the Civil Courts and the High Court in Kerala not to pass any order in violation of the mandate of this Court's decision in K.S. Varghese (supra).

3. The appeal arises out of the suit, pending before the High Court, is disposed of in terms of the decision passed by this Court in K.S. Varghese (supra) as there is no scope left for further litigation on the issue. The High Court has no right to tinker with the judgment and order passed by this Court which is binding and the judicial propriety has to be maintained at all costs. There is no scope for further litigation in the matter which we have concluded. We direct the Courts to decide all pending matters following the aforesaid decision which has been affirmed thereafter by umpteen number of times.

4. The binding effect of the representative suit has been considered before this Court in K.S. Verghese (supra) thus:

“78. The aforesaid findings and the declaration in the aforesaid decree that was passed in the 1995 judgment extracted above, in a representative suit, is binding. This Court in R. Venugopala Naidu vs. Venkatarayulu Naidu Charities, 1989 Supp (2) SCC 356 has dealt with the suit under Section 92 and Order 1 Rule 8 CPC and it was held that such a suit is the representative action of a large number of persons who have a common interest. The suit binds not only the parties named in the suit but all those who are interested in the trust. It is for that reason Explanation 6 to Section 11 CPC constructively bars by res-judicata the entire body of interested persons from agitating the matters directly in issue in an earlier suit under Section 92 CPC. This Court has laid down thus: (SCC pp. 360-61, para 11)

“11. It is not necessary to go into the finding of the High Court that two of the appellants being Muslims can have no interest in the trust as the other two appellants claim to be the beneficiaries of the trust and their claim has not been negatived. Moreover, the trust has been constituted to perform not only charities of a religious nature but also charities of a secular nature such as providing for drinking water and food for the general public without reference to caste or religion.”

Section 11 read with Explanation 6 is extracted hereunder:

“11. Res-judicata - No court shall try any suit or issue in which the matter directly and substantially in issue has been directly and substantially in issue in a former suit between the same parties, or between parties under whom they or any of them claim, litigating under the same title, in a court competent to try such subsequent suit or the suit in which such issue has been subsequently raised, and has be