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2026 Supreme(Online)(Gau) 15775

GAUHATI HIGH COURT
Mridul Kumar Kalita, J
Purvottar Simnta Railway Karmachari Sangh – Appellant
Versus
Jitu Hazarika – Respondent
CRP/83/2025



Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: R. Ali
For the Respondents: R. Sarma

The High Court’s supervisory power under Article 227 of the Constitution is not an appellate jurisdiction and cannot be exercised to correct mere errors of fact or law, or to substitute its own view, unless the impugned order suffers from patent perversity or lack of jurisdiction.

Headnote:(A) Constitution of India - Article 227 - Scope of interference - High Court’s power of superintendence is not akin to appellate jurisdiction - Interference is warranted only in cases of patent perversity or where the lower court exceeds its bounds.

(B) Civil Procedure Code, 1908 - Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 - Temporary Injunction - Discretionary relief subject to existence of prima facie case, balance of convenience, and irreparable loss - Appellate court’s reversal of trial court’s order cannot be disturbed under Article 227 simply because a different view is possible, unless the order is perverse.

Facts of the case:
The petitioners, identifying as the leadership of a registered Trade Union, sought a temporary injunction against the respondents, who also claimed leadership of the same union following an affiliation dispute. The trial court granted an injunction, which was vacated by the First Appellate Court. The petitioners approached the High Court in a Civil Revision Petition.

Findings of Court:
The High Court held that the First Appellate Court's reasoning was not perverse, even if arguably erroneous. Consequently, the High Court declined to interfere under its supervisory jurisdiction, permitting the respondents to use the union's name while requiring them to disclose their specific affiliation to avoid confusion during the pendency of the main suit.

Issues: Whether the First Appellate Court’s order vacating the temporary injunction was perverse and warranted interference under Article 227 of the Constitution.

Ratio Decidendi: The High Court’s power under Article 227 is limited to preventing perversity and keeping lower courts within their jurisdiction; it does not allow the substitution of the court's own opinion for that of the lower appellate court merely for correcting errors of fact or law.

Result: Petition disposed of with conditional directions.

Table of Content
1. summary of procedural background and nature of the dispute. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11)
2. appellants' contentions regarding the appellate court's error in vacating the injunction. (Para 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19)
3. respondents' arguments on the legitimacy of their leadership. (Para 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25)
4. court holds that article 227 oversight is limited to preventing patent perversity. (Para 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35)

1. Heard Mr. R. Ali, the learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. R. Sarma, the learned counsel for the respondents.

2. This application under Article 227 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioners, namely, (1) Purvottar Simnta Railway Karmachari Sangh (PSRKS) represented by its General Secretary, Mr. Paulush Mushahary, (2) Ms. Anita Singh, and (3) Paulush Mushahary, impugning the judgment and order dated 28.05.2025, passed by the Court of the learned Additional District Judge No. 3, Kamrup (Metro) in Miscellaneous Appeal No. 1/2025, whereby, the First Appellate Court set aside the order dated 17.12.2024 passed by the Court of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division) No. 1, Kamrup (Metro) in Misc. (J) Case No. 11/2024.

3. By the order dated 17.12.2024, the Trial Court had granted temporary injunction in favour of the present petitioners, restraining the present respondents from engaging in activities under the name and banner of the petitioner No.1, Trade Union until resolution of the dispute pending in Title Suit No. 633/2024. By the order impugned in this Civil Revision Petition, the aforesaid order of the Trial Court has been set aside and vacated.

4. The facts relevant for consideration of the instant Civil Revision Petition, in brief, are that the present petitioner No.1, namely, Purvottar Simnta Railway Karmachari Sangh (PSRKS) is a Trade Union registered under Trade Unions Act, 1926 having registration No. 721/1971. The petitioner No. 2 Ms. Anita Singh is the President of said Trade Union, whereas the petitioner No.3, namely, Mr. Paulush Mushahary is the General Secretary of the aforesaid Trade Union. The said petitioners have filed a Title Suit bearing T.S. No. 633/2024 before the Court of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division) No. 1, Kamrup (Metro) against the present respondents namely, (1) Shri Jitu Hazarika, (2) Shri. Harish Bhuyan.

5. In the plaint of the aforesaid Title Suit, it has been pleaded by the present petitioners that the petitioner No.1 is one of the independent zonal union of the employees of North East Frontier Railway and it has its own constitution to fulfill aims and objectives mentioned therein. It was further pleaded by the petitioners in their plaint that initially the petitioner No. 1 Union got its affiliation under “Bharatiya Railway Mazdoor Sangha (BRMS).

6. It was further pleaded in the plaint that zonal unions like the petitioner No.1 are independent bodies as the federations under which they get their affiliation cannot interfere in the internal matters of the zonal unions. However, it has been alleged that since last part of year 2019, some authorities of Bharatiya Railway Mazdoor Sangha (BRMS), started interfering with the internal matters of the petitioner No.1 Union. Accordingly, the Executive Committee of petitioner No.1 Union took decision on 14.06.2020 to withdraw its affiliation from Bharatiya Railway Mazdoor Sangha. The said decision was conveyed to the Bharatiya Railway Mazdoor Sangha on 16.06.2020 by way of sending a letter to it by the petitioner No.1 Union. After withdrawal of affiliation from Bharatiya Railway Mazdoor Sangha, the petitioner's Union affiliated itself under Bharatiya Janta Mazdoor Sangha, (BJMS). To this effect, the president of BJMS, by his letter No. BJMS/NS/Affiliation/8 dated 14.08.2021, declared acceptance of affiliation of petitioner No. 1 Union with Bharatiya Janta Mazdoor Sangha, (BJMS).

7. It was also pleaded that on 27.09

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