Status quo shall continue until final disposal of the pending civil suit.

The petitioners invoked Article 227 of the Constitution to challenge the Principal District Judge, Rajkot’s order dated 20 November 2017 in Civil Miscellaneous Appeal No. 7 of 2009, seeking its setting aside and continuation of status quo over the suit lands

A status quo order had operated from 2008 until the Appellate Court vacated it; this Court again directed status quo on 26 April 2018 while issuing notice

During the hearing, respondent No. 2 requested that the existing status quo continue until final disposal of Regular Civil Suit No. 288 of 2006. The petitioners did not object to that arrangement, provided the suit was expedited

Whether the status quo order should continue until final disposal of Regular Civil Suit No. 288 of 2006, instead of the Court deciding the challenge to the Appellate Court’s order on its merits

Whether the Trial Court should be requested to decide the suit expeditiously and independently of observations made in the impugned order

The petition was brought under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, and the petitioners sought certiorari or other appropriate relief against the Appellate Court’s order

It does not articulate a general legal test; the relief granted was case-specific, based on the parties’ positions and the history of the status quo order

The Court accepted respondent No. 2’s request to continue the status quo and noted that the petitioners had no objection if the suit proceedings were expedited

In view of the status quo having operated from 2008, having been vacated in 2017, and having been restored by this Court in 2018, the Court directed that it remain in force until the suit’s final outcome

To facilitate resolution of the dispute, it requested the Trial Court to decide the suit as early as possible, preferably by 31 December 2027, and directed that the suit be decided on the evidence and in accordance with law, uninfluenced by observations of either court

The petition was partly allowed. The Trial Court was requested to decide the suit as early as possible, preferably on or before 31 December 2027, without being influenced by observations in the impugned order. Rule was made absolute to that extent, with no order as to costs