what is special in Special Leave Petition (SLP) and procedure.
?
?
INTRODUCTION
The Supreme Court is mainly an appellate court and can entertain appeals both in the Civil and Criminal matters if certain specified requirements of Article 132,133 and 134 of the constitution of India are met with. The appeals may be filed against the judgment/decree or final order of the various High Courts and as well as the Subordinate Courts.
If the concerned High Court certifies with respect to Article 134A that the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the constitution or of general importance and that in the opinion of the High Court the said question needs to be decided by the Supreme Court. Where such a certificate is given any party in the case may appeal to the Supreme Court on the ground that any such question has been wrongly decided.
REGULAR APPEALS AND LIMITATION
The petition of appeal on the basis of the certificate by High Court has to be presented within sixty days from the date of grant of the certificate of fitness. If the petition of appeal is delayed, the person filing the appeal may seek condonation of delay from the Supreme Court by explaining the reasons for the delay.
?SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (SLP)
If the High Court refuses to certify a case as above said or if any of the conditions as above said are not fulfilled, any party can seek special leave to file appeal by invoking the extraordinary (special) appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 136 of the constitution.
?
Under Article 136 of the constitution of India an SLP can be filed in the following circumstances:
a.??????SLP can be filed against any judgment/order/ decree/ determination of any High Court/Tribunal.
b.?????SLP can also be filed if the concerned High Court declines to grant the certificate of fitness to appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, special leave to appeal cannot be obtained to challenge any judgment, determination, sentence or order passed or made by any court or tribunal constituted by or under any law relating the Armed Forces [Article136(2)].
?
The appeal in the form of a special leave petition can be made in a case where any substantial question of law is involved or where gross injustice has been caused. Further, the judgment, order, or decree against which the appeal is being filed must have the character of judicial adjudication. This means that purely executive or administrative order or ruling cannot be considered as a matter of appeal.
In plain, the term Special leave petition (SLP) means taking of a special permission by an individual for being heard in an appeal against the order/ judgment/decree/determination passed ?or made by any High court, Court, or tribunal.?Therefore, SLP is not an appeal but a petition filed for an appeal. So, once an SLP is filed, the Hon’ble Supreme Court may hear the matter, and if it considers fit, it may grant the ‘leave’ and convert that said petition into an?‘appeal. Thereafter, the?Supreme Court?will hear the concerned matter and?pass judgment.
SLP AND LIMITATION
The period of limitation for filing SLP is laid down in the Supreme Court Rules. At present, the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, are applicable.
The special leave petition has to be filed within 60 days in case the certificate of fitness to appeal to Supreme Court is refused by the High Court. The period of sixty days is calculated from the date of the order of refusal by the High Court.
?
In other cases, the period of limitation is 90 days from the date of judgment or order challenged in the special leave petition. However, while computing the period of limitation, the period of time spent in making the application to seek certificate in the High Court till its rejection is to be excluded.
?
Important parts AND CLAUSES in the petition
?
1)??SYNOPSIS:
·????????Synopsis is the most important part in the entire SLP where the petitioner introduces a brief synopsis of the facts and issues presented in the case. Synopsis is something which is going to put the best of the case forward. Therefore we need to put a lot of efforts at synopsis in order to catch the eyes of the Hon’ble judges of the Supreme Court.
?
·????????The paragraph first of the synopsis is meant for the judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order against which the petitioner has filed the present SLP.
?
·????????Explain the case in simple and brief where the idea is to simplify life for everybody be it is an advocate, his client or judges. The simpler one can make the complex question, the easier it becomes the chances of getting the eyes of the Hon’ble Judges.
?
2)??BRIEF OF THE CASE
·????????Apart from the client’s story, read all the pleadings and documents that the client had gone through in the courts subordinate to the Supreme Court since as an officer of the court it is the responsibility of an Advocate to make sure that all the documents or pleading annexed with the SLP are true.
3)?????LIST OF DATES AND EVENTS
·????????Events need to be entered there in the list chronologically and Annexure are to be marked only as long as the annexed documents form a part of the pleadings of the courts subordinate to the Supreme Court. We cannot file anything which we have not filed in the trial court and the High court proceedings.
·????????For filing a new or an additional document, a permission from the Hon’ble ?Supreme Court is to obtain by filing an Interlocutory Application (IA) for additional document and the grounds thereof ?are to be stated therein, consequently it is upon the discretion of the court to permit to bring the new documents on record or not.
·????????Where we are to file the subsequent events which took place after the impugned order in challenge in the SLP, we cannot use that them in SLP as a matter of course, rather file them as additional documents via an IA as to bring the latest events and documents on record and also state all the grounds as to why you want to file them and why it is important for adjudication of the matter.
·????????The date of the impugned order which is to be challenged by the present SLP will always form part of the list of dates and events in its last column.
?
4)??CAUSE TITLE
????Cause title mainly contains:
·????????The title as to whether the present SLP is filed for invoking the criminal appellate jurisdiction or the civil appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
·????????The statement to the effect that against what impugned judgment/ order / decree or determination of the concerned High court, subordinate court or tribunal the petitioner is pleading.
·????????A statement to the prayer of interim relief, if it is proper to ask in the instant petition. For example: Prayer for release on bail as an interim relief.
·????????The name of different interlocutory application (IAs), for example:?an application for exemption from filing official translation, ?an application for condonation for delay in filing the said SLP, or- application for filing lengthy list of dates and events
?
5)??MEMO OF PARTIES
·????????A detailed description and address of the parties and their status in the subordinate courts in the form of the memo of parties is to be mentioned in the very beginning of the petition.
·????????Memo of parties is always considered as most important part of the petition as no party should be ignored when they were already a party in the courts subordinate to the Supreme Court that is, no party should go unheard. Therefore memo of parties must be cross checked from the pleadings happened in the lower courts.
·????????Where the respondent is the state or a company, it must be clear that to whom the petitioner want the notice to be issued. For example: State of Uttarakhand through Police station Patel Nagar and Reliance capital Ltd through its chairman/ MD etc.
·????????Where the petitioner had never been a party to matter in the courts subordinate to the Supreme Court, but still wishes to challenge the said matter through an SLP, he can do so by filing an IA as a permission to file an SLP. And then it is on the discretion of the Hon’ble court to grant such permission or not.
?
6)?????QUESTION OF LAW
·????????The petitioner has to formulate questions of law to appeal against the judgment. These questions should pertain to laws relevant to the general public as well.
·????????The grounds of challenge should then be systematically set out as to why the High Court’s judgment is not correct in law. Make this clause as limited as possible by bringing forward the only those points which we think the court should be adjudicate upon and state the specific point of law. For example, where a bail application was dismissed state the legal points why was it dismissed. Supporting with the precedent case laws where the Hon’ble Supreme Court had settled its position regarding that question of law.
?
7)?????DECLARATION CLAUSES
·????????There are the two declarations that the petitioner need to enter upon while drafting an SLP, viz
a)?????Declaration in terms of Rule (2) (2).
b)?????Declaration in terms of Rule (4).
·????????The former declaration deals with statement that no other petition seeking leave to appeal has been filed by the appellant against the same judgment/order/decree/determination and the latter one, that the documents filed with the petition are true and form part of the record of the courts below.?Both have very standard format provided in the Supreme Court website.
?
8)??GROUNDS FOR THE GRANT OF THE SPECIAL LEAVE TO APPEAL
·????????The grounds to be taken are of such a kind which indicates that how the lower court is at fault as it ignored the material facts and erred in taking them into consideration.
·????????For example: Because the Hon’ble High court erred in noticing that there is no ingredient implicating the petitioner in constitution of the alleged offence and that no iota of evidence had been put forward on record to make out a case against the petitioner.
?
·????????The grounds for the grant of the SLP must be the same which have been taken in the courts subordinate to the Supreme Court. Never take a ground which had not pleaded before.
·????????We can only argue in an SLP jurisdiction on those facts/ documents/evidences which would have already produced in the lower courts in hierarchy that the judges in the lower judiciary were able to look at it and adjudicate accordingly.
?
9)??GROUNDS FOR interim relief
·????????Along with the SLP, where some interim relief is prayed for, mostly sought in the form bail and stay in the proceeding of the impugned order/decree/ judgment/ determination against which the SLP has been filed. The grounds are of such that how the petitioner is ready to abide the conditions of the said relief once granted and how the petitioner is a suitable applicant for the said relief.
?
?
10)?????????????????????PRAYER CLAUSE
·????????There are two kinds of prayer clause in an SLP draft, one is the main prayer and the other is the prayer for the interim relief if any. While the former deals with the granting the special leave for appeal against the impugned order/ judgment /decree or determination of any court or tribunal subordinate to the Supreme Court, the latter one becomes significant at the notice stage.
·????????No separate application for interim relief need to be filed. Interim relief prayer?is to be stated in the main petition itself.
·????????The interim relief is prayed for mostly in the form of bail and putting a stay in the proceeding of the impugned order/decree/ judgment/ determination against which the SLP has been filed.
?
11)?????????????????????CERTIFICATE
·????????A certificate by an (AOR) Advocate-On-Record is issued on the instructions of the petitioner certifying that The SLP is limited only to the proceeding/order of the lower court and their facts, documents and grounds only and to the relevancy of the documents attached.
?
12)?????????????????????INDEX
·????????The index in the SLP draft is slightly different from the regular index format happened to be in the regular plaint or petition as documents here are separated therefore pages are separately listed.
·????????Appendix is important in asserting as to what section the SLP is relied upon. In criminal matters one has to annex a FIR format, which forms the last section therein.
?
13)??Affidavit
An Affidavit verifying the petition is required to be filed along with the SLP. The affidavit should be typed on plain white paper:
·?????????Affidavit verifying the uncertified copies of the Exhibits/Annexure should be filed.
·?????????If the petition is filed beyond 60/90 days the affidavit should be filed explaining the time taken for obtaining certified copy and/or the reason for delay.
?
14)?Court fees payable
On the SLP, the Court fees payable is Rs. 250/-; ?In case of petition on certificate granted by High Court, the Court fees payable is Rs. 250/- if the amount in dispute is Rs. 20,000/- or less and for every Rs. 1,000/- in excess of Rs. 20,000/- Rs. 5/- but the maximum Court fees payable does not exceed Rs. 2,000/-.
15)?Vakalatnama
The petitioner should appoint an (AOR) Advocate-on-record in New Delhi and send a Vakalatnama in favour of the proposed Advocate-on-record who will be filing the SLP.
16)?Verifications
The affidavits can be verified in any place either before Notary or before the Advocate of the High Court.
?
FORMAT OF THE SLP DRAFT
Appeals are regulated by the Constitution of India and Supreme Court Rules, 2013. Order XXI and Order XXII of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, deals with the SLP (Civil) and SLP(criminal) respectively.The Supreme Court has a pre-set format for the filing of the SLP in Form no. 28.Elluciated in the next page.
?
?
NO.28
?IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
[S.C.R., Order XXI Rule 3(1) (a)]
?
?CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION
(Under Article 136 of the Constitution of India)
?S.L.P. (Civil) No. .......................... of ......................
?
?BETWEEN?????????????????Position of Parties
???????????????????????????????????In the Court/Tribunal??????from In this Court
???????????????????????????????????Whose order
???????????????????????????????????the petition arises
?(A) (Here insert the name/names Petitioner/???????????????????????????Petitioner
??????of the Petitioner???????????????????Respondent/ ??????????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Appellant
(B)
领英推荐
(C)
AND
?(D) Here insert the name/names Petitioner/ ????????????????????????????????Respondent
???????of Respondent????????????????????Respondent/
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Appellant
?(E)
?(F)
To
Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India and His Companion Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
?
???????????????????????The Special Leave Petition of the Petitioner most respectfully showeth:
?1. The petitioner / petitioners above named respectfully submits this petition seeking special leave to appeal against the judgment/order of (Here specify the Court / Tribunal against whose order the leave to appeal is sought for together with number of the case, date of the order and nature of the order such as allowing or dismissing the matter or granting or refusing the interim order, etc.)
?2. QUESTIONS OF LAW: The following questions of the law arise for consideration by this Hon’ble Court: (Here set out the questions of law arising for consideration precisely)
?3. DECLARATION IN TERMS OF RULE 3(2): The petitioner states that no other petition seeking leave to appeal has been filed by him against the impugned judgment and order.
?4. DECLARATION IN TERMS OF RULE 5: The Annexure produced alongwith the SLP are true copies of the pleadings/documents which formed part of the records of the case in the Court/ Tribunal below against whose order the leave to appeal is sought for in this petition.
?5. GROUNDS: Leave to appeal is sought for on the following grounds. (Here specify the grounds precisely and clearly)
?6. GROUNDS FOR INTERIM RELIEF: (Here specify briefly the grounds on which interim relief is sought for)
7. MAIN PRAYER: (Here set out the main prayer)
?8. INTERIM RELIEF: (Here set out the interim prayer)
?Place:?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Advocate for the petitioner
Date:
?Settled by:
?(Specify the name of the Advocate in case where the petition is
?Settled by an advocate.)
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????----------------------
?
SAMPLE DRAFT OF THE SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 136 OF THE CONSTITUTION
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
[S.C.R., Order XXI Rule 3(1) (a)]
??????????????CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION
?????????????????????????????????????????????UNDER ORDER XXII RULE 2(1)
?????????????????????????????????????????????S.L.P. (Criminal) No. 165215 OF 2021
(Against the impugned judgment and the final order dated 15.08.2021 and passed by the of the Hon’ble High court of Uttarakhand at Nanital in UK..Cr.C. No.5585/2021)
?
?BETWEEN?????????????????????????????????????????????Position of Parties
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????In the?Hon’ble High Court???In this ?Hon’ble Court
Raman Rawat @ram S/o Chaman Rawat
R/o 176 Sailok colony G.M.S Road, Dehradun Uttarakhand
?????????????????Versus????
?
Petitioner
Petitioner
The State of Uttarakhand through Police Station Vasant Vihar, Dehradun Uttarakhand
Respondent/ State
Respondent
?
??????????????????????????????????
TO
????????Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India
??????????and His Companion Judges of the
???????????Supreme Court of India.
THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE PETITIONER ABOVE NAMED
?most respectfully showeth:
?1. That the petitioner is filing this Special Leave Petition against the impugned order and final order dated 16.08.2021 passed by the High court of Uttarakhand at Dehradun in UK..Cr.C. No.5585/2021 whereby the Hon’ble High Court dismissed the Anticipatory bail application filed by the petitioner.
2. QUESTIONS OF LAW:
a.??????Whether the rejection of the bail application was correct in terms of the law laid down in the catena of judgments by this Hon’ble court?
b.?????Whether the Hon’ble High Court ignored the fact that the matter has been settled between the parties and more so was of civil in nature and did not require criminal proceedings?
c.??????Whether the Hon’ble High Court failed to appreciate that the petitioner did not commit any offence nor did he conspire to attempt an act as allege in the complaint?
d.?????Whether the Hon’ble High Court erred by ignoring the settled principles of anticipatory bail jurisprudence that the petitioner is unlikely to abscond or misuse his liberty while in bail?
?3. DECLARATION IN TERMS OF RULE 3(2): The petitioner states that he has filed no other petition seeking leave to appeal has been filed by him against the impugned judgment and order dated 16.08.2021 passed by the High court of Uttarakhand at Dehradun in UK..Cr.C. No.5585/2021
?4. DECLARATION IN TERMS OF RULE 5: The Annexure P-1 and P-2 filed along with the SLP are true copies of the pleadings/documents which formed part of the records of the case in the Court/ Tribunal below against whose order the leave to appeal is sought for in this petition.
?5. GROUNDS: Leave to appeal is sought for on, inter alia, the following grounds.
a.??????Because the Hon’ble High Court erred in taking into account that the basis, the documents prima facie, the petitioner has not committed any offence as alleged against him.
b.?????Because the Hon’ble High Court ignored that the petitioner is innocent and has been falsely robed in the entire case.
c.??????Because the Hon’ble High Court erred in noticing that there is no ingredient in implicating the petitioner in constitution of the alleged offence. And that no iota of evidence has been put on record to make out a case against the petitioner.
d.?????…………
e.??????…………..
f.??????………….etc.
?
?
?6. GROUNDS FOR INTERIM RELIEF:
A.???That the petitioner is ready to abide by all the conditions that this Hon’ble court may impose while granting the benefit of bail.
B.????That the petitioner is the permanent resident of the address mentioned in the cause title where he has both movable and immovable properties, and there is no chance of him to abscond.
C.????That the petitioner has a good prima facie case and balance of convenience lies in his favour.
?
?7. MAIN PRAYER:
Wherefore, in the light of the above the petitioner herein most humbly submits that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to:
a.??????Grant a Special leave to appeal against the impugned order and final order dated 16.08.2021 passed by the High court of Uttarakhand at Dehradun in UK..Cr.C. No.5585/2021;
b.?????Pass any other order or orders as this Hon’ble court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.
?8. INTERIM RELIEF:
Wherefore, in the light of the above the petitioner herein most humbly submits that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to:
a)?????Grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner to the satisfaction of the Ld?Session Judge, Dehradun, Uttarakhand during the pendency of the Special Leave Petition;
b)?????Pass any other order or orders as this Hon’ble court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.
c)??????
?Place: Delhi?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Advocate for the petitioner
Date: 10th of September 2021???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Naveen Dabral
?Settled by: Adv. Naveen Dabral
?
?
?
?IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
??????????????CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION
??????????????????????????????????????????????S.L.P. (Criminal) No. 165215 OF 2021
IN THE MATTER OF;
Ram Rawat @Ram???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????…Petitioner
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????VERSUS????????????????????????????????????????????????
State of Uttarakhand???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????…Respondent
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????CERTIFICATE
Certified that the Special Leave Petition is confirm only to the pleadings before the High Court whose order is challenged and the documents relied upon in those proceedings. No additional facts, documents or grounds have been taken therein or relied upon in the Special Leave Petition. It is further certified that the copies of the documents/annexure attached to the Special Leave Petition are necessary to answer the question of law raised in the petition or to make out grounds urged in the Special Leave Petition for consideration of this Hon’ble Court. This Certificate is given on the basis of the instructions given by the Petitioner person authorized by the Petitioner whose affidavit is filed in support of the SLP.
Date10th of September 2021
New Delhi
Filed by
Adv Naveen Dabral
?
?
Affidavit
I, ————————— of the Petitioner No. 1, aged about —— years, residing at ————————— do hereby solemnly affirm and state as under:
?
Deponent
Verification
I, the Deponent abovenamed do hereby verify that the contents of paras 1 to —— of my above affidavit are true to my knowledge, no part of its is false and nothing material has been concealed therefrom.
Verified at Mumbai on this ——— day of ——— 200
Advocate for the Petitioner
Before me
Associate High Court, Bombay
?
?????????????????????????????????
????????????????????????????
?