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Ex. Havildar Bhoop Singh vs Union of India & Ors.

Diary No. · 2022 INSC 889Decided 30 Aug 2022
Diary No. 19482 of 2020
Uday Umesh Lalit · Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud · Sanjay Kishan Kaul · S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

This matter had already gone through a civil appeal and a subsequent review petition, both of which were unsuccessful for the petitioner, a former Army Havildar. As a last resort, he filed a curative petition: the narrowest and final remedy available in Indian law, used only in truly exceptional cases after both an appeal and a review have failed, and confined strictly to situations of a genuine breach of natural justice or a judge's bias/lack of jurisdiction as recognized in Rupa Ashok Hurra v. Ashok Hurra (2002).

Decision Breakdown

The four-judge bench examined the curative petition and the supporting documents and held that no case was made out within the narrow grounds recognized for curative petitions under Rupa Ashok Hurra. Since a curative petition is not meant to be a fresh appeal on the merits but only a safety valve for exceptional procedural defects, and none were shown here, the Court dismissed the petition in a brief order without further elaboration on the underlying dispute.

Lesson Learnt

A curative petition is an extraordinary, last-resort remedy. It is not another chance to re-argue the merits of a case already decided and reviewed, and will be entertained only where a genuine violation of natural justice or judicial bias/lack of jurisdiction is shown.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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