Binding effect of appellate affirmation by the apex court on lower benches

When an appellate order passed by a division bench of a High Court affirming a single judge's directions is subsequently challenged before and upheld by the Supreme Court of India, that decision attains absolute finality and binds all subordinate forums as well as coordinate benches. Once the apex court dismisses a special leave petition challenging an order, whether on merits or on grounds of delay, the core operational directions embodied in the underlying judgment acquire legal immunity from contrary interference by lower judicial bodies. A coordinate division bench of the same High Court lacks the jurisdictional authority to issue a subsequent order of remand or set aside the single judge's decree after the Supreme Court has already validated the affirmation of that exact decree. Subordinate courts and parallel benches are duty-bound to respect and enforce decisions that have received the seal of approval from the highest court of the land. Allowing subsequent intra-court appeals to unravel matters already finalized by the apex court would undermine the doctrine of judicial hierarchy and finality of litigation. Parties cannot circumvent finalized apex court dismissals by pursuing parallel, lingering intra-court proceedings to secure conflicting findings on the same cause of action. Consequently, any subsequent decision that runs counter to an apex-court-affirmed order is legally unsustainable and must be set aside to uphold judicial discipline. (Syed Mohammed Shabbuddin v. The Union of India & Others ETC. | 2026 INSC 231)