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G. Sita Ram Chander v. Tummala Suresh Chandra Chatterjee

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 906Decided 5 Aug 2026
Civil Appeal Nos. 10204-10214 of 2026 (arising out of SLP (C) Nos. 9910-20 of 2025)
Justice J. B. Pardiwala · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

The respondents' earlier appeals had been dismissed, after which they filed review petitions against that dismissal. A Single Judge heard the review petitions and allowed them, and on the very same day also passed a common judgment allowing the original appeals themselves without any further hearing. G. Sita Ram Chander challenged both the order allowing the review and the consequential judgment allowing the appeals.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that what the Single Judge did in the "review" was, in substance, a full rehearing of the appeal on its merits: the review order itself acknowledged that the earlier judgment had failed to consider contentions with a substantial bearing on the result, which is not a permissible ground for review but a ground for appeal. This went well beyond the limited contours of review jurisdiction. The Court set aside both the order allowing the review petitions and the dependent judgment that subsequently allowed the appeals, since the latter rested entirely on the former. The Court granted the aggrieved respondents liberty to challenge the original order (the one that had dismissed their appeals) afresh within 60 days, while clarifying it expressed no opinion on the merits.

Lesson Learnt

A review petition cannot be used as a backdoor appeal: a court exercising review jurisdiction may only correct an error apparent on the face of the record, not re-argue and reverse a decision on merits; that requires an actual appeal, filed through the proper channel.

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

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