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Yakub Abdul Razak Memon v. State of Maharashtra

Review Petition (Criminal) · Neutral citation not assigned (Review Petition (Criminal) No. 474 of 2013 in Criminal Appeal No. 1728 of 2007)Decided 9 Apr 2015
Review Petition (Criminal) No. 474 of 2013 in Criminal Appeal No. 1728 of 2007
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice J. Chelameswar · Justice Kurian Joseph

Background

Yakub Memon had been convicted and sentenced in connection with the 1993 Bombay serial bomb blasts case, with his appeal against conviction and sentence decided by the Supreme Court in Criminal Appeal No. 1728 of 2007. He subsequently filed a review petition asking the Court to revisit that judgment, arguing points on both conviction and sentence, and the Court also examined the trial court's judgment afresh at his request to assess his contentions.

Decision Breakdown

The Court heard extended arguments from senior counsel on both sides, went through the judgment under review as well as the trial court's judgment, and concluded that every argument the petitioner raised had already been considered in detail in the judgment sought to be reviewed. Since review jurisdiction is available only where there is an error apparent on the face of the record or some other exceptional ground, and the Court found no such error, it held that no case for review was made out. The review petition was accordingly dismissed, leaving the original conviction and sentence undisturbed.

Lesson Learnt

A review petition is not a second appeal: the Supreme Court will only reopen a judgment it has already delivered if there is a glaring, apparent error on the record, not merely because a party wants the same arguments reconsidered.

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

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