Non-final interim orders in writ proceedings are not appealable under Clause 15.

The appellant, who was the fourth respondent in the underlying writ petition, challenged the Single Judge’s order granting an interim stay of an order dated 05.08.2026.

While the appeal was pending, the High Court dismissed the main writ petition, W.P.(MD) No.25453 of 2026.

The Court also considered whether an intra-court appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent lay against an order passed in a Writ Miscellaneous Petition.

1. Whether the writ appeal survived after dismissal of the main writ petition.

2. Whether an intra-court appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent lay against the Single Judge’s interim order in the Writ Miscellaneous Petition.

Clause 15 of the Letters Patent permits an appeal from a qualifying “judgment.”

In Midnapore Peoples Cooperative Bank Limited v. Chunilal Nanda, Civil Appeal No.1727 of 2002, dated 25.05.2006, the Supreme Court held that interlocutory orders finally deciding matters in controversy or materially affecting the final decision, or finally determining a collateral issue affecting vital rights, may constitute judgments appealable under the Letters Patent. Routine procedural orders and orders causing only inconvenience or prejudice without finally determining rights and obligations do not.

The Court held that dismissal of the main writ petition meant that the appeal against the interim stay could not survive.

It further applied the Midnapore principles, noting that an appeal under Clause 15 does not lie against interlocutory orders that do not qualify as “judgments”; the Court stated that this position had been consistently followed by the courts.

The interim stay granted by the Single Judge stood vacated; there was no order as to costs, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.