Courts must pass reasoned orders to enable parties understand why they lost or won cases: SC

The Supreme Court has said that courts need to pass a reasoned order in every case which would enable the parties involved in the litigation to understand as to "why one party has won and other has lost".

The top court remanded back to the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore, a matter related to provident fund contribution for deciding it afresh.

A bench of justices A M Sapre and Navin Sinha said that the order of the court should highlight the legal principles applicable to the issues involved.

"Time and again, this court has emphasised on the courts the need to pass reasoned order in every case which must contain the narration of the bare facts of the case of the parties to the lis, the issues arising in the case, the submissions urged by the parties, the legal principles applicable to the issues involved and the reasons in support of the findings on all the issues arising in the case and urged by the learned counsel for the parties in support of its conclusion," the bench said.

The court said it is really unfortunate that the division bench (of high court) failed to keep in mind these principles while disposing of the writ petition.

"Such order, in our view, has undoubtedly caused prejudice to the parties because it deprived them to know the reasons as to why one party has won and other has lost," the bench said.

It said that the top court can never countenance the manner in which such order was passed by the high court which has compelled it to remand the matter for deciding the writ petition afresh on merits.

The bench, after perusing the order of the high court said, "Indeed, in the absence of any application of judicial mind to the factual and legal controversy involved in the appeal and without there being any discussion, appreciation, reasoning and categorical findings on the issues... It is difficult for this court to sustain such order of the division bench."