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Vedanta Ltd. (Formerly M/s Sesa Sterlite Ltd.) v. The Goa Foundation & Ors.

Special Leave Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 328Decided 9 Jul 2021
Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 32138 of 2015
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

In 2018, a two-judge Supreme Court bench (Justices Lokur and Gupta) had ruled against Sesa Sterlite/Vedanta and the State of Goa in a dispute over mining leases in Goa ("Goa Foundation II"). Years later, well after both those judges had retired, the State of Goa and Vedanta filed review petitions asking the Court to reconsider that 2018 judgment. The State's petitions came nearly two years late, and Vedanta's came nearly 2.5 years (907 days) late, with no real explanation offered for the delay.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court Rules require a review petition to be filed within 30 days of the judgment under challenge. The Court noted that both the State of Goa and Vedanta filed their review petitions only after the two judges who authored the original ruling had retired, and held that "such practice must be firmly disapproved to preserve the institutional sanctity of the decision making of this Court." The petitions were dismissed primarily on the ground of delay/limitation, but the Court also independently examined the merits and found no legitimate grounds for review in any event.

Lesson Learnt

A review petition against a Supreme Court judgment must be filed within 30 days; waiting years, especially until the judges who decided the case have retired, will not be excused, and courts view such timing with suspicion regardless of the underlying merits.

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

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