M/s. Magadh Sugar and Energy Ltd. v. The State of Bihar
Background
This is a Miscellaneous Application filed in Civil Appeal No. 5728 of 2021, seeking correction of typographical errors in the Supreme Court's own judgment dated 24 September 2021. The errors concerned certain monetary figures (crores wrongly stated instead of lakhs) and a misdescription of counsel's seniority in that earlier judgment.
Decision Breakdown
The Court allowed the correction application, directing that the figures of Rs. 56 crores and Rs. 67 crores in paragraph 8 of the earlier judgment be corrected to read as Rs. 5.6 crores and Rs. 67 lakhs respectively, and the Rs. 67 crores figure in paragraph 10 be corrected to Rs. 67 lakhs. It also corrected the description of counsel's designation. With these corrections made, the Miscellaneous Application itself was disposed of.
Lesson Learnt
Courts retain the power to correct genuine clerical or arithmetical slips in their own judgments through a simple rectification application, without reopening the substance of the decision: this is a narrow, administrative remedy distinct from an appeal or review.