The Supreme Court overturned APTEL's review order in the DVC tariff dispute. The ruling reinforces Article 141 and the binding force of apex court precedents.Stock photo used for illustrationNewdelhi,Oct 30, 2026 20:22 ISTThe Supreme Court on Friday criticised the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity for reviewing an issue related to the Damodar Valley Corporation that had already been settled by the top court, news agency Press Trust of India reported.A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said the tribunal had "gone haywire" and committed a blatant breach of judicial discipline by reopening the matter.The court said the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) had violated the principle under Article 141 of the Constitution, which requires courts and tribunals to follow decisions of the Supreme Court."We cannot but observe that the tribunal has gone haywire; we are apologetic for the expression, but we find no substitute to express our angst in allowing the review, that too, when the very same issue, for the earlier years, was settled by this court," the bench observed.
The Supreme Court set aside the tribunal's order, saying it had been passed in defiance of its 2019 judgment. That ruling had allowed the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to recover contributions to its Sinking Fund through electricity tariffs.A Sinking Fund is a dedicated pool of money set aside to meet a specific future expense or financial obligation.
The court also imposed costs of Rs 2 lakh on Maithan Alloys Limited, which had sought the review before the tribunal, and Rs 1.5 lakh on Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) for supporting the review order, PTI reported.The dispute concerns DVC's tariff determination for 2009-2014. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission had allowed the power generation company to treat contributions to its Sinking Fund as an expense recoverable through electricity tariffs.Allowing DVC's appeal, the bench said APTEL had disregarded judicial discipline and ignored the Supreme Court's binding precedent."We find the review to be clearly illegal, totally misplaced and blatantly in breach of the principles of judicial discipline.
We also have to emphasise the travesty insofar as violation of Article 141 of the Constitution," the bench said."Our judicial system with the hierarchy of courts thrives on the sanctity of the decisions of the appellate, revisional and supervisory jurisdictions to be given due weightage," it added."As far as Article 141 is concerned, it's a Constitutional imprimatur which ensures the decisions of the highest court of the land to be followed, without which there will be mayhem," the bench said.The Supreme Court consequently overturned APTEL's review order, upheld the binding effect of its 2019 decision on DVC's Sinking Fund contributions and imposed costs on Maithan Alloys and SAIL.- Ends