Kiran Devi v. Ravindra Kumar Yadav
Background
Kiran Devi had earlier approached the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition (Criminal) against Ravindra Kumar Yadav, which the Court disposed of by an order dated 9 July 2021 after weighing both sides' submissions in the specific facts of the case. Dissatisfied with that outcome, she filed a Review Petition seeking to have the order reconsidered, albeit with a 17-day delay in filing it.
Decision Breakdown
The Court first condoned the 17-day delay in filing the review petition so that it could be heard on merits. On examining the review petition's contents, the Bench found no "error apparent on the face of the record", the narrow legal standard required to succeed in a review, and held that the original order had already properly weighed the rival submissions in the peculiar facts of the case. The Review Petition was accordingly dismissed, finally disposing of this matter.
Lesson Learnt
A review petition is not a second chance to re-argue a case: the Supreme Court will only reopen its own order if there is a glaring, self-evident error on the record, not merely because a party remains dissatisfied with the outcome.