Supreme Court outlines 3 conditions for stay orders

One of the points to be considered is the balance of convenience does not favour the alleged violator

A view of Supreme Court of India in New Delhi.

The Supreme Court has outlined three aspects it usually considers while granting a stay order.

A Bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, in a judgment in November, said the three include: the balance of convenience does not favour the alleged violator; the stay order does not cause irreparable harm or injury; and there should be a prima facie case for granting the stay order. The observation came while deciding appeals filed by the State of Mizoram against an HC order to keep in abeyance all paper lottery draws pursuant to the pending outcome of a writ petition filed by a lottery company.

The SC found that order would cause a loss of ₹20 lakh to the State government.

“There is no way this loss can be compensated by the respondent no.1 writ petitioner [lottery company] since it is unwilling to furnish any bank guarantee in this regard,” the apex court said.