Supreme Court sets aside an electricity tribunal's review that disregarded its own binding ruling

30 October 2026

The Supreme Court has struck down a review order of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, holding that a tribunal cannot use its review power to walk away from a ruling of the Supreme Court. The appeal was by the Damodar Valley Corporation against Maithan Alloys Limited and others. The tribunal's 2019 order had followed the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Bhaskar Shrachi Alloys Ltd v. Damodar Valley Corporation, but in 2024 the tribunal reviewed and reversed itself. The Court called this a breach of judicial discipline and a violation of Article 141 of the Constitution, which makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts in India. The judgment also restated the limits of review: a mistake must be plain on the face of the record, and anything needing lengthy argument to establish does not qualify. The tribunal's review order was set aside, with costs of Rs 2 lakh on Maithan Alloys, which had sought the review, and Rs 1.5 lakh on the Steel Authority of India Limited, which had supported it.