A State legislature has no power to confer jurisdiction on Supreme Court.

Supreme Court of India

Justice Indira Banerjee, Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran, Justice M R Shah and Justice S Ravindra Bhat

The  Constitutional Bench of the SC { Rajendra Diwan v. Pradeep Kumar Ranibala & Anr.} holds that Section 13(2) of the Rent Control Act purports to confer a right of statutory Second Appeal to the Supreme Court. It was held that even in case of concurrent findings of the Rent Controller and Rent Control Tribunal, where no serious question of law were involved, an appeal would have to be entertained and decided. Such a provision which mandates the Supreme Court to consider an appeal is clearly beyond the legislative competence of the State Legislature. Article 200 does not and cannot validate an ultra vires enactment, which the concerned Legislature lacked competence to enact.

Accordingly, it was held that the State Legislature lacked legislative competence to enact Section 13(2) of the Rent Control Act and, therefore, declared Section 13(2) of the Rent Control Act ultra vires the Constitution of India, null and void and of no effect.

In the present case, the question which required to be determined by the Constitutional Bench of the SC was, whether Section 13(2) of the Chhattisgarh Rent Control Act, 2011 is ultra vires the Constitution of India, by reason of lack of legislative competence of the Chhattisgarh State legislature to enact the provision. It was answered in affirmative by the SC.