Withdrawal without adjudication on merits does not bar a fresh application on the same cause.

The applicants filed Review Application No. 81/2026 seeking recall of the Tribunal’s order dated 30 April 2026, by which OA No. 1691/2026 had been dismissed as withdrawn.

The respondents’ counsel submitted that the applicants could pursue their remedy by filing a fresh original application and stated that, in that event, no objection would be raised on the ground of res judicata .

Although notice had not been issued in the Review Application, the matter was taken up with the consent of the parties. The applicants’ counsel submitted that the earlier OA had been withdrawn and had not been adjudicated on merits.

1. Whether the applicants should be permitted to withdraw the Review Application seeking recall of the order by which their earlier OA was dismissed as withdrawn.

2. Whether the applicants could pursue an appropriate remedy, including filing a fresh OA, notwithstanding the withdrawal of the earlier OA and without the earlier order operating as a decision on merits.

The Tribunal applied the procedural principle that withdrawal of an original application without adjudication on merits does not constitute a merits-based determination of the dispute.

Consequently, a fresh proceeding may be pursued, subject to its independent maintainability and consideration on merits.

The Tribunal also relied on the respondents’ statement that they would not object to a fresh OA on the ground of res judicata .

Since OA No. 1691/2026 had been permitted to be withdrawn and had not been decided on merits, the Tribunal found no impediment to permitting withdrawal of the Review Application as well.

The Tribunal did not examine the substantive merits of the applicants’ claim or the correctness of the earlier withdrawal order.

Instead, it preserved the applicants’ liberty to avail themselves of any remedy available in law.

It further clarified that any fresh OA would have to be considered independently, uninfluenced by the order permitting withdrawal of the earlier OA, and only if otherwise maintainable.

Any fresh OA filed by the applicants was directed to be considered on its own merits and would not be prejudiced merely by the withdrawal of the earlier OA, subject to maintainability.

All pending miscellaneous applications, if any, were also disposed of, with no order as to costs.