<h1 class="ql-align-center"><strong style="color: rgb(230, 0, 0);">Curative Petition</strong></h1><p class="ql-align-center"><br></p><h3><strong>Context</strong>&nbsp;</h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">A Constitution Bench of the <strong>Supreme Court</strong> made it clear to the government that it will <strong>not “try” the curative petition of the Centre like a suit</strong>, by re­opening a $470­ million compensation settlement finalized with the <strong>Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)</strong> over 30 years ago in the Bhopal gas leak tragedy case.</li><li class="ql-indent-2">The court was hearing the government's curative plea, filed in 2010, for enhancement of compensation.&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-indent-2">The Centre wants the UCC to pay for it.</li></ul><h3><strong>About</strong>&nbsp;</h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">Curative jurisdiction is a rare remedy evolved by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 2002 in the Ashok Hurra versus Rupa Hurra case.&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-indent-1">A party can take only two limited grounds in a curative petition —&nbsp;</li><li class="ql-indent-2"><strong>one, that he or she was not given an opportunity to be heard, and&nbsp;</strong></li><li class="ql-indent-2"><strong>two, the judges were biased.&nbsp;</strong></li><li class="ql-indent-1">A curative petition, which follows the dismissal of the review petition, is the last legal avenue open in the Supreme Court.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Its objectives are two folds- <strong>avoid miscarriage of justice and to prevent abuse of process.</strong></li></ul><p><br></p><h3><strong>Constitutional Background:</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">The concept of the curative petition is supported by <strong>Article 137 of the Indian Constitution.&nbsp;</strong></li><li class="ql-indent-1">It provides that in the matter of laws and rules made under <strong>Article 145</strong>, the Supreme Court has the power to review any judgment pronounced (or order made) by it. Such a petition needs to be filed within 30 days from the date of judgment or order.</li></ul><p><br></p><h3><strong>Criteria for Curative Petition</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-indent-1">A curative petition may be filed after a review plea against the final conviction is dismissed.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">The SC has held that curative petitions must be rare rather than regular, and be entertained with caution.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">A curative petition must be accompanied by certification by a senior advocate, pointing out substantial grounds for entertaining it.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">It must be first circulated to a bench of the 3 senior-most judges, and the judges who passed the concerned judgment, if available.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">Only when a majority of the judges conclude that the matter needs hearing should it be listed as far as possible, before the same Bench.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">A curative petition is usually decided by judges in the chamber unless a specific request for an open-court hearing is allowed.</li><li class="ql-indent-1">In the event of the Bench holding at any stage that the petition is without any merit, it may impose a penalty on the petitioner.</li></ul><p><br></p><h1 class="ql-align-center"><strong>PRELIMS NOTES:</strong><a href="https://sunyaias.in/notes/prelims-2023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204);"><strong>CLICK HERE</strong></a></h1><p class="ql-align-center"><br></p><p><br></p>