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2026 Supreme(Online)(UK) 1873

HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
Manoj Kumar Gupta, CJ, Subhash Upadhyay, J
State of Uttarakhand – Appellant
Versus
Neeru Garg – Respondent
Writ Petition (S/B) No. 305 OF 2026 | Writ Petition (S/B) No. 306 OF 2026

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: S.N. Babulkar, Sukumar Pattijohsi, Amrendra Pratap Singh, Anil Kaushik, Kaushal Pati Gautam, Rajeev Singh Bisht, P.S. Bisht, B.P.S. Mer, Gajendra Tripathi, Vanshika Singh, Mrinal Sharma, Harsh Dahiya, Snehpreet Kaur
For the Respondents: Kapil Sibbal, Nikhil Singhvi, Sumedha Ray Sarkar, Vipul Sharma, Khushboo Tiwari Sharma, Anil Kaushik, Lalit Sharma, Pankaj Chaturvedi, Manoj Kumar

A court or tribunal must decide a pending application for vacation of an interim stay before initiating or insisting upon compliance under the threat of contempt. Preemptively enforcing an interim order while a vacation application remains pending is legally unsustainable and infringes upon the rights of the litigating parties.

Headnote:(A) Constitution of India - Article 226 - Writ jurisdiction - Territorial jurisdiction - A High Court may exercise writ jurisdiction if the cause of action arises, in whole or in part, within its territorial limits, irrespective of the seat of the adjudicating tribunal. (Paras 13, 14, 21)

(B) Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 - Procedural Law - Interim orders - Stay vacation applications - Where an application for vacation of an interim order is pending, it is legally improper and unsustainable to compel compliance of said order under threat of contempt proceedings without first adjudicating the stay vacation application - Such a course of action renders the prayer for stay infructuous and compromises the right of the litigant to seek relief. (Paras 24-26, 28, 29)

Facts of the case:
Officers serving under the government were deputed to external assignments but subsequently challenged their appointment and the associated relieving orders. A tribunal issued an interim stay on these orders. While applications for vacation of this stay were pending before the tribunal, it directed the government officials to ensure compliance with the interim order within a strict timeframe upon threat of contempt proceedings, despite the officials having raised substantive challenges and sought vacation of the order.

Findings of Court:
The court observed that compelling compliance of an interim order while a legitimate application for its vacation is pending is contrary to settled judicial principles. The tribunal erred in prioritizing coercive contempt proceedings over the consideration of the stay vacation application, which effectively rendered the application redundant and caused potential irreparable prejudice.

Issues: 1. Whether the High Court possesses territorial jurisdiction to entertain a challenge to an order passed by a tribunal located outside the state, given the cause of action partially arose within the state. 2. Whether it is legally permissible to initiate or threaten contempt proceedings for non-compliance of an interim order before disposing of a pending stay vacation application.

Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that a judicial or quasi-judicial body must prioritize the disposal of stay vacation applications before insisting upon obedience to interim directions. Failure to do so, particularly under the threat of contempt, creates an environment where the right to seek stay vacation is undermined and potentially rendered meaningless. The court maintained that judicial proceedings must follow a sequence that balances the interests of the parties and ensures that relief sought is not preemptively defeated.

Result: Writ petitions disposed of; the impugned tribunal order directing compliance under the threat of contempt was quashed; contempt proceedings stand adjourned until the stay vacation applications are adjudicated.

Table of Content
1. procedural history and context of inter-state deputation disputes. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6)
2. parties' contentions on territorial jurisdiction and procedural validity of contempt versus stay vacation. (Para 7 , 8 , 9)
3. determination of high court jurisdiction under article 226 where cause of action arises. (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22)
4. priority of deciding stay vacation applications over initiating contempt proceedings. (Para 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29)
5. final direction for disposal of pending writ petitions and stay applications. (Para 30 , 31)

JUDGMENT : (Per Sri Manoj Kumar Gupta, C.J.)

1. These writ petitions arise out of the same set of facts and challenge a common order, therefore, were heard together and are being decided by this common order.

2. Respondent No.1, Neeru Garg in WPSB No. 305 of 2026 is an officer of the Indian Police Service of the 2005 Batch of the Uttarakhand Cadre. Pursuant to a request made by the Union of India for nomination of IPS officer for central deputation, the State of Uttarakhand nominated Neeru Garg vide letter dated 16.02.2026. Thereafter, the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the approval of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, appointed Neeru Garg as Deputy Inspector General in Indo-Tibetan Boarder Police (ITBP) vide appointment letter dated 05.03.2026. Consequent thereto, she was relieved by the petitioner-State vide order No. 376722 dated 06.03.2026. Neeru Garg assailed the order of her deputation in ITBP vide appointment letter dated 05.03.2026 and the relieving order dated 06.03.2026 by filing WPMS No. 139 of 2026 before this Court. The said writ petition was, however, withdrawn on 23.03.2026 with liberty to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal. Thereafter, she challenged the order of her deputation in ITBP dated 05.03.2026 and the relieving order dated 06.03.2026 by filing O.A. No. 1181 of 2026 titled ‘Neeru Garg vs. Union of India and others’ before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi.

3. Similarly, respondent No. 1, Sri Arun Mohan Joshi in WPSB No. 306 of 2026 is also an IPS officer of the Uttarakhand Cadre of the Batch-2006. On the request of the Union of India for nomination of IPS officers for central deputation, the State of Uttarakhand nominated him vide its letter dated 16.02.2026. In his case also, the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the approval of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, appointed him as Deputy Inspector General in the Boarder Security Force vide appointment letter dated 05.03.2026 and in consequence of which, he was relieved by the State of Uttarakhand for joining the new assignment vide relieving order dated 06.03.2026. He, initially, challenged his appointment in BSF vide appointment letter dated 05.03.2026 and the relieving order dated 06.03.2026 by filing WPSB No. 138 of 2026 titled ‘Arun Mohan Joshi vs. Union of India’ before this Court. Subsequently, the writ petition was got withdrawn on 23.03.2026 with liberty to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal. He, thereafter, filed O.A. No. 1180 of 2026 titled ‘Arun Mohan Joshi vs. Union of India and others’ before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi assailing the order of his appointment dated 05.03.2026 and the relieving order dated 06.03.2026.

4. In both the Original Applications, filed before the Tribunal, a common interim order was passed by the Tribunal on 07.04.2026 in favour of the original applicants and, thereby, the operation and implementation of the appointment orders dated 05.03.2026 and the relieving orders dated 06.03.2026 and all consequential actions pursuant thereto were stayed till the next date of hearing. While passing the interim order, the Tribunal directed the State of Uttarakhand to file a detailed counter-affidavit and place on record all relevant documents to enable it to examine its contentions. Relevant portion of the order of the Tr

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2026 Supreme(Online)(UK) 1873

HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHANDManoj Kumar Gupta, CJ, Subhash Upadhyay, JState of Uttarakhand – AppellantVersusNeeru Garg – RespondentWrit Petition (S/B) No. 305 OF 2026 | Writ Petition (S/B) No. 306 OF 2026

Cases Referred (4)

HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
Manoj Kumar Gupta, CJ, Subhash Upadhyay, J
State of Uttarakhand – Appellant
Versus
Neeru Garg – Respondent
Writ Petition (S/B) No. 305 OF 2026 | Writ Petition (S/B) No. 306 OF 2026