The Supreme Court (SC) has used its extraordinary powers to set aside its own judgment of 2021 and relieve the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) of a burden of Rs 7,687 crore in a dispute with Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd. (DAMEPL).
- The verdict vindicates the existence of the Court’s curative jurisdiction on the one hand, and flags, on the other, a possible conflict between finality in litigation and the need for substantive justice.
Curative writ petition
- A curative writ petition as a layer of appeal against a Supreme Court decision is not prescribed in the Constitution.
- It is a judicial innovation, designed for correcting “grave injustices” in a ruling of the country’s top court.
- The Supreme Court first articulated the concept of a curative writ in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs Ashok Hurra (2002).
- A curative petition is an extraordinary remedy, as it is filed after the apex Court refuses to review its judgment.
- There are only two main grounds for entertaining such a petition: to prevent abuse of process and to prevent gross miscarriage of justice, although it is not possible to enumerate all the circumstances that warrant it.
- It is founded on the principle that the court’s concern for justice is no less important than the principle of finality.
