Divisional Commissioner Does Not Have The Power To Review An Already Decided Appeal: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that the Divisional Commissioner has no jurisdiction to reopen and rehear an appeal once it has been finally decided.

Justice Ajay Mohan Goel remarked that: “There is no power vested in the Divisional Commissioner to suo moto again revive an appeal which has been decided by it earlier in exercise of its quasi-judicial power.”

The petitioner, aggrieved by a notification regarding delimitation of constituencies under the H.P. Panchayati Raj (Election) Rules, 1994, filed an appeal before the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla. The commissioner allowed the appeal and remanded the matter back to the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, for fresh adjudication.

However, the Divisional Commissioner later took up the same appeal again for consideration and decided it without setting aside the earlier order of remand.

The Court observed that once the Divisional commissioner had remanded the matter, it had no jurisdiction to reopen and rehear the same appeal. Unless the order was reviewed or set aside by a superior authority, the Commissioner had no authority to revive and decide the same appeal again.

The Court further remarked that when the Divisional Commissioner had already disposed of the appeal, it had no authority to suo moto revive an appeal without any order of the superior authority.

Case Name: Manish Dharmaik V/s State of H.P. & Ors.

Case No.: CWP No. 13426 of 2025

Date of Decision: 25.08.2025

For the Petitioner: Mr. T.S Chauhan, Senior Advocate, with Mr. Surya Chauhan, Advocate

For the Respondents: Mr. Pushpinder Jaswal, Additional Advocate General

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