Context:

Recently, Vodafone has decided to file the curative petition in supreme court with respect to the Adjusted gross revenue case.

About Curative petition:

• Curative is a rare remedy devised by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in its judgment in the Rupa Ashok Hurra case in 2002.
• A party can take only two limited grounds in a curative petition —
  • One, he was not heard by the court before the adverse judgment was passed
  • Two, the judge was biased.
• A curative plea, which follows the dismissal of review petition, is the last legal resort.

About Review Petition:

• According to constitution, a judgment of the Supreme Court (SC) becomes the law of the land.
• Under Article-137, SC can review its own decision, which is known as review petition.
• Under review petition, Court is not allowed to take fresh stock of the case but to correct grave errors that have resulted in the miscarriage of justice.
• Any person aggrieved by a ruling can seek a review and file a review petition. However, court has its discretion to allow a review petition.

Conditions for Review petition:

• To correct a “patent error” and not “minor mistakes of inconsequential import”.
• A review can be accepted “only where a glaring omission or patent mistake or like grave error has crept in earlier by judicial fallibility”.
• Mistake or error apparent on the face of the record.
• Any other sufficient reason. It means a reason that is analogous to the other two grounds.
• A review is not an appeal whereby an erroneous decision is reheard and corrected but lies only for patent error.
• Possibility of two views on the subject cannot be a ground for review.

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