HC Interim Order Uncalled For as Civil Suit Pending: SC

Supreme Court Sets Aside Rajasthan High Court Interim Order as Uncalled For With Civil Suit Pending

Published: 27 October 2026 · NyayVidhan

The Supreme Court set aside an interim order of 18.08.2025 passed by the Rajasthan High Court at Jaipur in two criminal miscellaneous petitions, finding it completely uncalled for while civil suit no. 71/2022 for specific performance, declaration with respect to sale deeds and permanent injunction is pending. Without going into the merits, it requested the High Court to decide the main matters within about four months and kept all questions of law open, including reliance on a forensic signature comparison (paras 3-9).

Key holdings

The Rajasthan High Court's interim order of 18.08.2025 was found completely uncalled for while civil suit no. 71/2022 is pending (para 5).

The Supreme Court did not go into the merits because the main suit and the quashing petition are pending (para 6).

The High Court is requested to decide the main matter(s) on the merits, preferably within four months (para 8).

All questions of law remain open, including reliance on an FSL report comparing a 2015 signature with a sample taken after the 2022 F.I.R. (para 9).

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Brief Facts

Mukesh Kumar Sharma challenged an order of 18.08.2025 passed by the Rajasthan High Court (Bench at Jaipur) in S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous (Petition) Nos. 3803 and 3805 of 2025 (para 3). The Supreme Court describes it as an interim order (paras 5, 7) but does not set out what it directed. Civil suit no. 71/2022, for specific performance, declaration with respect to the sale deeds and permanent injunction, is pending, as is the quashing petition (paras 5-6). The order also refers to an F.I.R. registered in 2022, a disputed document of 2015 and a Forensic Science Laboratory report on the signature in it (para 9). The Court condoned the delay and granted leave (paras 1-2).

Court's Findings

Having perused the impugned order and the material on record, the Court found the High Court's interim order completely uncalled for, particularly when civil suit no. 71/2022, concerning the sale deeds, is pending consideration (paras 4-5). It recorded that it was persuaded to go into the merits, but refrained only because the main suit and the quashing petition are both pending (para 6). On that view it set aside the interim order (paras 7-8). It requested the High Court to decide the main matter(s) expeditiously on the merits, preferably within four months of receiving a copy of the order (para 8). All questions of law were kept open for appropriate proceedings, including whether the Forensic Science Laboratory report can be relied upon when it compares the signature in the disputed 2015 document with a sample signature obtained after the F.I.R. was registered in 2022 (para 9). The order gives no further reasons and cites no decision.

Legal Principle

An interim order passed by a High Court in a criminal miscellaneous petition may be set aside as uncalled for where a civil suit for specific performance, declaration on sale deeds and injunction is pending; the merits, and open questions such as the reliability of a forensic signature comparison, are left to the pending proceedings (paras 5-9).

NyayVidhan's view · Practice note

Why It Matters

This is a brief order with no stated test, so its use is practical. Where a civil suit for specific performance and declaration on sale deeds is pending, an interim order in a criminal petition can be challenged as uncalled for, and the Supreme Court may set it aside without touching the merits (paras 5-7). The order does not say what the interim order directed, so it is no authority on any particular kind of interim relief. The parties should now expect the High Court to decide the main matter(s) within about four months (para 8), with the forensic signature question still open (para 9). Compare Indroneel Goho on quashing where a civil dispute is given a criminal colour.

Editorial comment by the NyayVidhan Editorial Desk. It is not part of the Court's judgment and is not legal advice.