Overview
- The Supreme Court set aside the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s interim stay and allowed the state to proceed with relocating the commission, subject to the High Court’s final outcome.
- A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria said shifting a headquarters is ordinarily a policy decision with limited scope for judicial review.
- The court stressed that its remarks were confined to the interim stage and would not prejudice the merits pending before the High Court.
- The High Court had paused the January 7 relocation order on January 9 during a PIL filed by former commission member Ram Lal Sharma.
- The state argued Dharamshala offers a larger complex, proximity to a significant backward-class population in Kangra, and co-location with other commissions, with Shimla to function as a camp office.