INTRODUCTION
In State of West Bengal & Ors. v. Jai Hind Pvt. Ltd., 2026 INSC 132, the Supreme Court of India, speaking through Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, delivered a constitutionally significant ruling restraining executive authorities from reopening long-concluded quasi-judicial decisions in the absence of express statutory authority.
The Judgment categorically holds that the power of review is neither inherent nor implied and that executive or revenue officers exercising quasi-judicial functions cannot assume such power unless the statute specifically provides for it. The decision reinforces the doctrines of finality of adjudication, separation of powers and judicial independence, while striking down an attempt by the State to resurrect a land vesting dispute settled decades earlier.
BRIEF FACTS
The dispute arose under the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953 (hereinafter ‘WEBA’), pursuant to which agricultural land held by Jai Hind Pvt. Ltd. was vested in the State by a Revenue Officer’s Order dated 07.10.1971. The Company’s claim to retain land under Section 6(1)(j), applicable to companies engaged exclusively in farming, was rejected after due inquiry.
The Vesting Order attained unquestioned finality as the the company’s writ petition was dismissed in 1975. Further, Restoration was rejected in 1987 and finally the appeal was dismissed in 2002.
Despite this, in 2008, the State Government issued an executive direction to review the 1971 Vesting Order. Acting on this, the Revenue Officer set aside the earlier determination and allowed the Company to retain 211.21 acres of land. While the Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal quashed this Review Order, the Calcutta High Court upheld it, leading the State to challenge the decision before the Supreme Court.
CORE LEGAL ISSUE
Whether a Revenue Officer exercising quasi-judicial powers under the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953 possesses the authority to review a concluded vesting order in the absence of an express statutory provision.
ANALYSIS OF THE JUDGMENT
1. Review Power Must Be Statutorily Conferred
The Court reaffirmed the settled position that review is not an inherent power, particularly for quasi-judicial authorities. Such power must flow explicitly from statute, either by express provision or necessary implication. Mere conferment of “powers of a civil court” does not automatically include the power of review.
Any review undertaken without statutory authority, the Court held, is ultra vires, void and without jurisdiction.
2. Finality of Adjudication Is a Rule of Law Requirement
The Judgment strongly emphasizes that once a quasi-judicial order is passed after due inquiry, and has survived the entire appellate and writ process, it cannot be reopened by executive intervention. Permitting such reopening would undermine legal certainty and destabilize settled rights.
3. Executive Review Violates Separation of Powers
The Court placed significant reliance on the doctrine of separation of powers, which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution. It held that conferring or assuming review power by executive authorities would amount to allowing the executive to sit in judgment over its own decisions; a practice fundamentally incompatible with constitutional governance.
The power of review, the Court observed, is essentially judicial in nature, and vesting it in executive officers without legislative mandate erodes judicial independence and the rule of law.
4. Statutory Bar Under the WBEA Act
The Court further noted that Section 57B(3) of the WBEA Act expressly prohibits reopening matters already enquired into or decided. The 1971 Vesting Order, having attained finality, was therefore statutorily immune from review, rendering the 2008 proceedings wholly illegal.
CONCLUSION
This Judgment is a clear constitutional warning against administrative adventurism. By holding that executive authorities cannot review or reopen concluded quasi-judicial orders without express statutory sanction, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed three foundational principles that finality of adjudication is integral to justice. Furthermore, separation of powers cannot be diluted by executive convenience. Lastly, Quasi-judicial authorities must act strictly within statutory boundaries
The ruling decisively curtails attempts to unsettle long-resolved disputes through executive directions and policy considerations. At its core, the Judgment reinforces a simple but powerful constitutional truth:
What the statute does not permit, the executive cannot assume and what has attained finality in law cannot be reopened at will.
SARTHAK KALRA
Senior Legal Associate
The Indian Lawyer & Allied Services
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