M/s. Ice TV Private Limited vs M/s. Sreedevi Digital Systems Private Limited & Ors.
Background
After its civil appeal and a follow-on review petition were both dismissed by the Supreme Court, Ice TV Private Limited filed a curative petition seeking to reopen the matter one final time: the narrowest remedy available under Indian law for challenging a Supreme Court decision. No oral hearing is held for curative petitions as a matter of course.
Decision Breakdown
The bench reviewed the curative petition and the case record against the settled criteria in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra & Another, (2002) 4 SCC 388, which confines curative relief to cases showing a violation of natural justice or proven bias. Concluding that no such ground was made out, the Court dismissed the curative petition.
Lesson Learnt
The curative jurisdiction is deliberately kept extremely narrow; disagreement with the outcome of an appeal and review, without more, is not enough to succeed at this final stage.