Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.
Sikkim High Court: In an appeal against the interim compensation granted to the aggrieved-respondent for damage done to his house due to the construction work by the appellant, the Division Bench of A. Muhamed Mustaque, C.J.*, and Bhaskar Raj Pradhan, J., held that the circumstances under which an interim order may be issued must be exceptional, where there is an immediate threat to life. The Court further held that in the absence of any interim relief sought, the impugned order was unsustainable.
Background
The present letters patent appeals arose from a construction accident due to the tunnelling work for the Northeast Frontier Railway by the appellant, which caused severe damage to the house of Respondent 3.
The aggrieved respondent filed a writ petition and claimed that although the compensation for the destruction of the house had been assessed by the authorities concerned, the appellant herein failed to compensate. The aggrieved respondent was relocated from his house to a rented accommodation. The appellant was alleged to have neither paid the assessed compensation nor taken any steps to pay the house rent since relocation.
Subsequently, the impugned order was passed based on a Joint Inspection Report, which reported that the house of the petitioner was found abandoned due to the development of several cracks and was not fit for residential purposes.
The appellant preferred the present appeal challenging the sustainability of the interim orders to pay interim compensation.
Analysis
The Court examined the issue of the appealability of the impugned order. The Court held that the impugned order directing payment of compensation affected the substantive rights of the parties and was therefore appealable.
The Court then dealt with the question regarding the sustainability of the impugned order. The Court stated that compensation can be awarded by way of interim relief in exceptional circumstances, which would depend upon the facts and exigencies of each case. However, it must be borne in mind that such an order is ordinarily passed in instances where there exists an immediate threat to the life of a citizen who has approached this Court and who does not have any support for his means but for relief to be granted by the interim order.
Decision
Accordingly, in the absence of any interim relief sought, the Court held that the impugned order was unsustainable.
[IRCON, International Ltd. v. State of Sikkim, 2026 SCC OnLine Sikk 19, decided on 24-3-2026]
*Judgment authored by Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque.
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the appellant: Deblina Chattaraj (through V.C.) and Prem Simon Chettri, Advocate
For the respondents: S.K. Chettri, Government Advocate, with Sujan Sunwar, Assistant Government Advocate for Respondents 1 & 2;
D.K. Siwakoti, Advocate for Respondent 3;
Sangita Pradhan, Deputy Solicitor General of India, with Natasha Pradhan, Sittal Balmiki, and Amit Kumar Sharma, Advocates for Respondent 4.
