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Korukanti Kumar vs. State of Andhra Pradesh

Special Leave Petition (Crl.) · 2022 INSC 1148Decided 1 Nov 2022
Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 2816 of 2017
Sanjiv Khanna

Background

The petitioner had been convicted by the Trial Court for offences under Sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder) and 309 (attempt to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh affirmed both the conviction and sentence in appeal. The petitioner's Special Leave Petition against that appellate decision was subsequently dismissed by the Supreme Court. He then filed this Review Petition asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its own dismissal order.

Decision Breakdown

The Court first condoned the delay in filing the review petition, allowing it to be heard despite being filed late. On merits, the Bench examined the grounds raised in the review petition and held that it found no "error apparent on the face of the record": the very narrow standard required to succeed in a review (as opposed to a fresh appeal on the facts). Since no such error was shown, the review petition was dismissed, leaving the conviction and sentence undisturbed.

Lesson Learnt

A review petition before the Supreme Court is not a second appeal. It succeeds only where the petitioner can point to an obvious, self-evident error on the face of the original order, not merely re-argue the facts or seek a fresh look at the evidence. Courts will condone delay in filing a review as a matter of procedure, but that does not lower the very high bar for actually winning one.

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

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