Karnataka Industrial Corporation vs Sri Lankappa and Ors.
Background
The petitioner's Civil Appeal No. 7545 of 2021 had earlier been decided by the Supreme Court through a detailed, reasoned judgment. Dissatisfied with the outcome, the petitioner sought a review of that judgment and also asked for an oral hearing on the review petition.
Decision Breakdown
The Court first rejected the request for an oral hearing. On examining the grounds raised in the review petition, it found that they did not disclose any "error apparent on the face of the record": the limited standard needed to reopen a final, reasoned judgment. The Court noted the original appeal had already been decided after considering rival submissions in a reasoned order, and dismissed the review petition.
Lesson Learnt
A review petition cannot be used to re-argue a case that has already been fully considered and reasoned out. It succeeds only where there is a clear, self-evident mistake on the face of the record, and a party's mere disagreement with the outcome does not meet that bar.