Delhi High Court Limits Use of Section 528 BNSS After Revisional Remedy Fails

The Delhi High Court held that Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita cannot ordinarily be used as a second route to challenge an order after an unsuccessful revision.

What happened

The Delhi High Court held that Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita cannot ordinarily be used as a second route to challenge an order after an unsuccessful revision. Justice Girish Kathpalia said inherent jurisdiction remains available to prevent abuse of process or gross miscarriage of justice, but cannot routinely defeat the statutory restriction governing revisional proceedings. The case arose from a man's effort to secure directions for registration of an FIR concerning his wife's death during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling preserves exceptional inherent powers while preventing litigants from using them as an unrestricted substitute for exhausted statutory remedies.

Legal significance

Holdings, observations, allegations and submissions are kept distinct. The legal effect is confined to the present development.

Practical consequence

Further consequences follow through the operative judicial, administrative or constitutional process described above.

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