Collateral challenge or attack - Indian Laws - General

Collateral challenge or attack Collateral Challenge , variably referred to as Collateral Attack as defined in Black s Law Dictionary , is as follows: An attack on a judgment in a proceeding other than a direct appeal; esp., an attempt to undermine a judgment through a judicial proceeding in which the ground of the proceeding (or a defense in the proceeding) is that the judgment is ineffective. Typically a collateral attack is made against a point of procedure or another matter not necessarily apparent in the record, as opposed to a direct attack on the merits exclusively. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus is one type of collateral attack. -- Also termed indirect attack. Cf. DIRECT ATTACK (1). [Cases: Criminal Law 1407; Habeas Corpus 203; Judgment 470-523]. On the scope and content of collateral challenge or attack , the Australian High Court (the Apex Court) in Ousley v. The Queen, has thus to say: A collateral attack on an act or decision occurs when the act or decision is challenged in proceedings whose primary object is not the setting aside or modification of that act or decision [Davy v. Spelthorne Borough Council, (1984) AC 262]. In In re Preston, [(1985) AC 835], however, Lord Scarman used the term collateral challenge to include any process challenging a decision-- including an application for judicial review--other than a proceeding by way of appeal. This use of the term is readily intelligible. However, with the widespread availability of judicial review procedures, it conduces to clarity of thought, in my opinion, if the term collateral challenge is confined to challenges that occur in proceedings where the validity of the administrative act is merely an incident in determining other issues. COCHIN COLLEGE VERSUS AJITH KUMAR, K. - 2014 (9) TMI 1174 - KERALA HIGH COURT