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S. Murali Sundaram vs. Jothibai Kannan & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 161Decided 24 Feb 2023
Civil Appeal Nos. 1167-1170 of 2023
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

The appellant had challenged a 2008 order of the Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation concerning a pathway in Indian Bank Colony, Simco Meter Road, before the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench). In March 2017 the High Court allowed his writ petition, choosing to rely on two reports rather than a Survey Department report. The opposing parties then filed a review application, and in June 2021 the High Court allowed the review, set aside its own earlier judgment (calling it erroneous), and consequently dismissed two related writ petitions filed by one S.M. Gajendran and a contempt petition. The original writ petitioner appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeals. It relied on its rulings in Perry Kansagra and Shanti Conductors to restate that review is not an appeal in disguise: a court reviewing its own order cannot rehear the case or substitute a different view, and may only correct an error that is apparent on the face of the record, meaning one that strikes the eye without a long process of reasoning. Here, the survey report the High Court used to justify the review had already been considered and discarded when the writ petition was decided, so revisiting it amounted to sitting in appeal over its own judgment, which is impermissible. The Court held that even if the original judgment were erroneous, the remedy is an appeal to a higher court, not a review. It quashed the review order, restored the March 2017 judgment, and sent Gajendran's two writ petitions and the contempt petition back to the High Court for fresh decision on their merits.

Lesson Learnt

A review petition is a narrow remedy meant only for obvious mistakes visible on the record, not for re-arguing a case or persuading the same court that it got the merits wrong. If you believe a judgment is wrong on the merits, the correct route is an appeal, not a review.

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

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