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Marayammal & Ors. vs K.S. Venkidusamy & Anr.

Review Petition (Civil) · 2022 INSC 890Decided 30 Aug 2022
Review Petition (Civil) No. 1182 of 2018

Background

After losing a civil appeal and then a review petition before the Supreme Court, the petitioners (Marayammal and others) filed a curative petition: the narrowest and final avenue in Indian law to reopen a Supreme Court decision, available only in exceptional circumstances. The Court considered the petition and the underlying case papers without oral arguments, since a request for an oral hearing was itself rejected.

Decision Breakdown

The bench examined the curative petition and the relevant record and applied the settled test from the Constitution Bench decision in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra & Another, (2002) 4 SCC 388, which permits curative petitions only where there has been a violation of natural justice or a demonstrated case of bias. Finding that the petitioners had not made out any case falling within those narrow parameters, the Court dismissed the curative petition without giving detailed reasons, as is standard practice for curative petitions that fail to meet the threshold.

Lesson Learnt

A curative petition is not a routine "fourth appeal". It succeeds only in the rarest cases involving a genuine breach of natural justice or proven bias, not merely because a litigant disagrees with the outcome of an earlier appeal and review.

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

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