SLP vs Review — Which Remedy Should You Choose?

 

SLP or Review Petition? The Wrong Choice Can Create a Serious Procedural Problem

When a High Court judgment goes against you, two words often appear immediately in legal discussions:

SLP.

Review.

But they are not two versions of the same remedy.

An SLP under Article 136 asks the Supreme Court to exercise its discretionary power to grant special leave to appeal.

A review petition, on the other hand, asks the court that delivered the judgment to reconsider it on recognized and limited review grounds.

That difference affects everything from jurisdiction to procedure and the consequences of dismissal.

A review is not an appeal in disguise. It generally requires a recognized ground, such as an error apparent on the face of the record, discovery of important material that could not earlier be produced despite due diligence, or another legally recognized ground.

An SLP operates differently.

But the real procedural trap appears when a litigant has already filed an SLP.

Suppose the SLP is dismissed.

Should the litigant immediately file a review?

Or has the High Court judgment already merged with the Supreme Court's order?



And what if the SLP was withdrawn?

What if the Supreme Court granted liberty to file a review?

What if that review was subsequently dismissed?

And what if the litigant now wants to approach the Supreme Court again?

These questions cannot safely be answered by treating every Supreme Court dismissal as identical.

The article examines the jurisprudence beginning with Kunhayammed and then considers later authorities, including Khoday Distilleries, Manisha Nimesh Mehta, S. Narahari, Satheesh V.K., and Kangra Central Cooperative Bank.

The most important practical lesson is simple:

Before deciding the next remedy, read the actual Supreme Court disposal order.

The words “dismissed,” “dismissed as withdrawn,” “withdrawn with liberty,” and “leave granted” can have very different procedural consequences.

Read the full guide:
SLP vs. Review Petition—Which Remedy Is Available?

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