Review and Curative Petition are two separate terms for re-addressal of the grievance plea. The Supreme Court maintains both the petitions for the convenience of the petitioner. Through Review Petition, one can seek justice by requesting judicial re-examination of the case, whereas the Curative Petition enables the petitioner to seek justice when his Review Petition is dismissed.
Review vs Curative Petition
The main difference between Review and Curative Petition is that review petition is a judicial re-examination of a case, the court has the authority to re-examine its verdict to rectify an error with self-evident and not small errors of insignificant import. Curative Petition is the ultimate destination for the petitioner to seek righteousness after the case was rejected in the review petition.
The time-bound to file a Review petition from the day of it’s final verdict is a month. The petition is reviewed by the same Judges who ruled the judgment.
The Curative Petition does not have a time limit but to verify the violations, three high ranking lawyer needs to verify and bring up the significant ground for the petition.
Comparison Table Between Review and Curative Petition (in Tabular Form)
| Parameter of Comparison | Review Petition | Curative Petition |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Provision behind the petition | Under Article 137 of India and Article 145, the Supreme Court of India has the ability to re-evaluate any conclusion ruled by it. | Under Article 137 of India and Article 145, the court has the ability to re-evaluate any conclusion ruled by it. |
| Who can file a petition? | The petitioner who feels resentful on any decision of the Supreme Court on any noticeable mistake can file a review petition. | It may be filled after a review appeal has been dismissed in the final conviction. |
| Bench of Judges. | Oral argument does not take place and the petition is re-examined by the Judges who ruled the previous verdict. | The petition is heard by three high ranking lawyers with additional to the judges who passed the ruling. Oral argument does not take place. |
| When to file a petition? | Must be filed within 30 days from the date of judgment and must be placed before the same Bench of Judges which had delivered the decision | No time limit is given for filling a Curative petition but it must be Filed within a reasonable time. |
| Grounds for petitions | The petitioner must have found new evidence which they failed to produce before the court at the time when the court passed the judgement. | After the review petition has been dismissed and when the petitioner verifies that there were violations of principles of natural righteousness and he was not heard by the court before passing the decision. |
What is Review Petition?
The power of the court to correct and prevent the gross failure of justice and, a provision for review has been laid down under Section 114 of the Code of Civil Procedure which provides a petitioner a significant right to ask the court for a review.
It acts as an optional right of the court. The purpose of a review petition is restricted to fixing a noticeable consequence or grievance that has been the effects of a decision of the Supreme Court.
The court does not take fresh cases but it corrects serious mistakes that have resulted in the failure of justice.
What is Curative Petition?
Curative Petition is the final option for the petitioner to seek justice. It was put forth by the apex court to avoid the failure of justice and to avoid misuse of process. It is a way to beg the court to investigate and rectify their own ruling after the dismissal of a review petition.
The concept evolved from a case where the following question arose before the court of law-“whether a disappointed person is allowed to any relief against the final verdict of the Supreme Court after the dismissal of a review petition?”
It’s a Supreme Court creation which goes against its own power. The court acknowledges that an act of the court shall prejudice no one.
Main Differences Between Review and Curative Petition
- Review and Curative Petition both are judicial pleas of the petitioner to seek justice however Review is filed when the petition fails to prove his innocence at the time of verdict but later finds evidence to prove his innocence whereas Curative petition is filled when petitioner’s plea goes unheard in the review plea.
- There is a time limit of 30 days to file a Review petition after the judgement whereas there is no time limit to file a Curative petition, but must be filed within a reasonable time.
- Review petition can be filed in both the Supreme Court and High Court whereas Curative petition can be filed only in Supreme Court.
- Review petition is heard by the same Bench of Judges who delivered the verdict whereas Curative petition is heard by Bench of three Senior most judges in addition to the judges who delivered the verdict.
Conclusion
Both the petitions, Review and Curative are a way of the court to amend their own errors and serve justice to all. Curative petition is quite rare and it should have some strong evidence to prove the injustice that has been served during the judgment.
They both have their own procedure to pass a petition. At many grounds both the petitions might get dismissed if the court does not find any errors
References
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2763497
- https://archives.tpnsindia.org/index.php/sipn/article/view/305