SUPREME COURT SET A PRECENDENTIAL PRINCIPLE IN SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION

SUPREME COURT SET A PRECENDENTIAL PRINCIPLE IN SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION

The Supreme Court has ruled that the principle of not entertaining Special Leave Petition (SLP) against an order rejecting the review petition when main judgment is not under challenge has become a precedential principle.

A Bench of Supreme Court Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah held that when the main judgment of the High Court cannot be effected in any manner, no relief can be granted by this Court in the special leave petition filed against order rejecting review application to review the main judgment of the High Court. This Court does not entertain a special leave petition in which no relief can be granted.

In this case, the petitioner – a Bank employee was dismissed from his job in lieu of disciplinary proceedings. What ensued was a series of litigations challenging the dismissal.

In 2016, after dismissal of SLP, a Review Petition was filed in the Supreme Court, which was dismissed in March 2016. The petitioner then filed a Curative Petition which was also dismissed in May 2016. After the aforesaid proceedings in the Apex Court, the petitioner filed a Review Petition, which was again dismissed by the High Court in February 2020. Aggrieved with the judgment the petitioner filed this SLP.

The Court relied on a number of judgments and observed that the rationale for not entertaining a special leave petition challenging the order of High Court rejecting the review petition when main order in the writ petition is not challenged can be easily comprehended. Against the main judgment the SLP having been dismissed earlier the same having become final between the parties cannot be allowed to be affected at the instance of petitioner.