Special leave petition

Also called: SLP, Article 136 · Topic: Judiciary: Independence, Structure, Judicial Review and Activism · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Judiciary"

Meaning

A special leave petition (SLP) is a request asking the Supreme Court for permission ("leave") to appeal against a decision of any court or tribunal in India. Under Article 136, the Court may grant or refuse this permission entirely at its own choice. The only exception is courts or tribunals set up under laws relating to the Armed Forces.

It is the Supreme Court's widest appellate power. It acts as a final safety valve against grave injustice, even when no other route of appeal exists. Today, however, SLPs take up most of the Court's time.

Explanation

How it works

• Appellate jurisdiction means the power to hear appeals. An appeal asks a higher court to look again at a lower court's decision. The SLP is a wide, discretionary (left to the Court's choice) part of this power.

• Two stages: 1. Leave stage: the person who lost files an SLP. The Court decides only one thing here: should it allow an appeal at all? It can simply say no, without giving a full judgment. 2. Appeal stage: if leave is granted, the SLP becomes a regular appeal. The Court then hears the case on its merits.

• No certificate needed: appeals under Arts. 132–134 usually need a High Court certificate (Art. 134A). An SLP does not. The petitioner goes straight to the Supreme Court.

• Overrides the other appeal routes: Art. 136 opens with "notwithstanding anything in this Chapter". So it works even where the other appeal articles give no right of appeal.

What it covers: the scope

• Any kind of decision: any "judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter" [4].
• A decree is the formal result of a civil case.

• A sentence is the punishment in a criminal case.

• Any court or tribunal: this includes tribunals, not just regular courts [4].

• A tribunal is a special body that decides disputes in one field, such as tax, service matters or river water.

• Any type of case: civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, revenue and so on.

• It is the last box in the NCERT diagram of Supreme Court jurisdiction.

Limits and conditions

• Armed Forces exception, Art. 136(2): no SLP lies against a court or tribunal set up under any law relating to the Armed Forces [4].
• Not a right: the petitioner has no right to an appeal, only a right to ask. The Court may refuse leave without stating detailed reasons.
• Meant for rare cases: in Pritam Singh v. State (1950), the Court said it would use this power only in "exceptional and special circumstances", where grave injustice has been done.
• It is not meant to be a routine second or third appeal.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits: Article 136, Part V (The Union), Chapter IV (The Union Judiciary). It has been part of the original Constitution since 28 January 1950, when the Supreme Court began.
• Who uses it:
• Any party that loses before a court or tribunal, including private persons, companies and governments.

• The Supreme Court alone decides whether to hear the appeal.

• Effect of the ruling: when the Court decides an appeal, its ruling binds all courts in India (Art. 141). This keeps the law uniform across the country.

• Key cases and instances:
• Pritam Singh v. State (1950): set the "exceptional and special circumstances" test.

• Cauvery water dispute: inter-state river disputes cannot come to the Court as an Art. 131 suit, because Art. 262 and the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 bar this.

  • The dispute went first to a tribunal under the 1956 Act.
  • The tribunal's award then reached the Supreme Court by appeal under Art. 136.
  • The Court decided it in 2018 (State of Karnataka v. State of Tamil Nadu).
  • This shows how wide Art. 136 is: it reached a matter that original jurisdiction could not.

• How it has worked in practice:

• Designed to be rare, became routine: SLPs now make up most of the Court's docket (its list of pending cases).

• Result: the Court spends much of its time on ordinary appeals. Constitutional questions wait longer.

• Reform responses to the overload:

• Bihar Legal Support Society v. Chief Justice of India (1986): the Court suggested a National Court of Appeal to take routine appeals.
• Law Commission, 229th Report (2009): recommended a Constitution Bench at Delhi and four regional Cassation Benches (regional benches that hear appeals) at Delhi, Chennai/Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai [2][3].
• Full Court, 18 February 2010: all the judges of the Supreme Court, sitting together, unanimously rejected this proposal [2][3].
• V. Vasanthakumar v. H.C. Bhatia (13 July 2016): the question of a National Court of Appeal was referred to a Constitution Bench. The government describes it as still sub judice (pending before a court) [3].

Don't confuse with

• Appeals under Arts. 132–134: these mostly need a High Court certificate (Art. 134A). An SLP needs no certificate and rests only on the Supreme Court's discretion. (Some criminal appeals under Art. 134, such as death sentences after an acquittal is reversed, lie as of right.)
• Writ petition under Art. 32: this is an original remedy and is itself a fundamental right when a fundamental right is violated. An SLP is an appeal against a decision already given, and it is not a right.
• Original jurisdiction under Art. 131: here the case starts in the Supreme Court and covers only Union–state or state–state disputes. An SLP comes up from a lower court or tribunal, and any party can file one.
• Transfer of cases under Art. 139A: under this article (added by the 42nd Amendment, 1976), the Court moves pending cases to itself or between High Courts [5]. An SLP challenges a decision that has already been given.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 136 = special leave to appeal. It covers any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order of any court or tribunal in India [4].
• Art. 136(2): no SLP against a court or tribunal set up under any law relating to the Armed Forces [4]. (Trap: tribunals in general are covered. Only Armed Forces tribunals are excluded.)
• Pritam Singh v. State (1950) → SLP to be used only in "exceptional and special circumstances".
• Leave is discretionary. There is no right of appeal under Art. 136, and no High Court certificate (Art. 134A) is needed.
• Cauvery dispute: reached the Supreme Court through Art. 136 from the tribunal's award, not through Art. 131. Decided in 2018.
• Law Commission 229th Report (2009): Cassation Benches to ease the appeal load. The Full Court rejected it on 18 February 2010 [2][3].

Mains Points

• From safety valve to routine appeal:
• Art. 136 was meant to correct grave injustice in rare cases (Pritam Singh, 1950).
• Today SLPs fill most of the docket. This crowds out constitutional work, and Constitution Bench cases wait for years.

• The trade-off is between access to justice for every litigant and the Court's role as a constitutional court.

• Reform options:

• (i) a National Court of Appeal (Bihar Legal Support Society, 1986; referred to a Constitution Bench in V. Vasanthakumar, 2016) [3];
• (ii) regional Cassation Benches (229th Report, 2009) [2][3];
• (iii) stricter screening of SLPs at the leave stage.

• Each must be weighed against uniform law across India (Art. 141), the unity of the Court (the 2010 Full Court rejection) [2][3], and access for poor litigants who live far from Delhi.

• Strength of wide discretion:

• Art. 136 lets the Court reach any tribunal or lower court and keep the whole judiciary as one integrated system.
• The same width that makes it a strong check on injustice also makes it hard to limit without a clear, self-imposed screening standard.

Related concepts

• Original jurisdiction
• Writ jurisdiction
• Appellate jurisdiction

Read more

• Supreme Court jurisdiction I: original, writ and appellate