Review Petition: A Ray Of Hope

Dear Friends,

                   

As Special Leave Petition filed by UGC against Nagpur High Court Division Bench is accepted by Supreme Court, the two prominent solutions arise out of situation. The first and foremost is to file review petition against the verdict in Supreme Court and secondly, to write letters to Chief Justice of India and President of India.

                      In India, a binding decision of the Supreme Court/High Court can be reviewed in Review
Petition. The parties aggrieved on any order of the Supreme Court on any apparent error can file a reviewpetition. Taking into consideration the principle of stare decisis, courts generally do not unsettle a decision, without a strong case. This provision regarding review is an exemption to the legal principle of stare decisis.

What is Stare Decisis?

                 Stare decisis (Anglo-Latin pronunciation: /ˈstɛəri dɨˈsaɪsɨs/) is a legal principle by which judges are obliged to respect the precedent established by prior decisions. The words originate from the phrasing of the principle in the Latin maxim Stare decisis et non quieta movere: "to stand by decisions and not disturb the undisturbed."[2] In a legal context, this is understood to mean that courts should generally abide by precedent and not disturb settled matters.

                           Article 137 of the Constitution provides that subject to provisions of any law and rule made under Article 145 the Supreme Court of India has the power to review any judgement pronounced (or order made) by it. Under Supreme Court Rules, 1966 such a petition needs to be filed within 30 days from the date of judgement or order. It is also recommended that the petition should be circulated without oral arguments to the same bench of judges that delivered the judgement (or order) sought to be reviewed.

                         Furthermore, even after dismissal of a review petition, the SC may consider a curative petition in order to prevent abuse of its process and to cure gross miscarriage of justice.

What is Curative Petition?

                             The concept of Curative petition was evolved by the Hon'ble Supreme court in the matter of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs.Ashok Hurra(2002)4SCC338 where the question was whether an aggreived person is entitled to any relief against the final judgment/order of the Supreme Court,after dismissal of a review petition.The Supreme Court in the said case held that in order to prevent abuse of its process and to cure gross miscarriage of justice,it may reconsider its judgments in exercise of its inherent powers.For this purpose the Court has devised what has been termed as a "curative" petition.In the Curative petition,the petitioner is required to aver specifically that the grounds mentioned therein had been taken in the review petition filed earlier and that it was dismissed by circulation.This has to be certified by a senior advocate.The Curative petition is then circulated to the three senior most judges and the judges who delivered the impugned judgment,if available. The five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice SP Bharucha, Justice Syed Mohammad Quadri, Justice UC Banerjee, Justice SN Variava and Justice Shivaraj V Patil passed the judgment.
Regards,
Yuvi