Supreme Court of India

By the time a matter reaches the Supreme Court the facts are largely settled. What is in issue is whether the law was correctly applied to them, or whether a question of law of general importance requires authoritative determination. That changes what the case is, and it changes how it must be prepared.

Supreme Court practice is a distinct discipline. The pleadings are different in form and in function. The argument is compressed. The preparation it rests on — command of the record below, precision in framing the legal question, and knowledge of the Court’s own jurisprudence on the point — takes considerably longer than the hearing does.

The firm appears before the Supreme Court in civil, criminal, constitutional and commercial matters, including appeals under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, bail matters in economic offence and narcotics cases, and constitutional challenges.

What We Do?

Special Leave Petitions

The ordinary route to the Court is a petition for special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution, which lies against any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order of any court or tribunal in India, other than a court or tribunal constituted under a law relating to the Armed Forces. Leave is discretionary. A petition succeeds where it identifies a substantial question of law, a patent illegality or perversity in the order below, a jurisdictional error, or a gross failure of justice. Dissatisfaction with concurrent findings of fact, however strongly felt, is not a ground and should not be presented as one.

Writ Petitions Under Article 32

Where a fundamental right guaranteed by Part III has been infringed by the State or an instrumentality of the State, a petition lies directly to the Supreme Court under Article 32. We advise on whether Article 32 is the appropriate route or whether the matter should first go to the High Court under Article 226, which is frequently the better course and is sometimes the only one that will be entertained.

Insolvency Appeals

Appeals from the NCLAT lie to the Supreme Court under Section 62 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 on a question of law, within forty-five days, extendable by not more than fifteen days on sufficient cause. The firm’s insolvency practice at the Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal level means the appeal is built on a record that was created with the appeal in view.

Criminal Appeals and Bail

Appeals against judgments of the High Courts in serious criminal matters, including matters under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 and the NDPS Act. Bail applications where the High Court has declined relief or where the question is one of general importance. In matters governed by the twin conditions in Section 45 of the PMLA or Section 37 of the NDPS Act, the quality of the material placed before the Court is generally decisive.

Constitutional and Public Law

Challenges to legislation, subordinate legislation, executive action and regulatory measures on constitutional grounds, including under Articles 14, 19, 21 and 300A. We advise on the framing of the challenge, on the choice between Article 32 and Article 226, and on the realistic prospects — which, in constitutional litigation, are frequently a function of how the question is framed rather than of how it is argued.

Transfer Petitions and Interlocutory Applications

Petitions for transfer of civil proceedings under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and of criminal proceedings under Section 447 BNSS (formerly Section 406 CrPC); and interlocutory applications for stay, for directions and for other urgent relief in pending matters.

Preparation

Preparation begins well before listing. The whole record below is read. The synopsis and list of dates are prepared with care, because in a great many matters they are what the Court actually reads — a list of dates that is chronologically precise and materially complete does more work than any amount of argument. The legal question is reduced to its shortest accurate form. And the answer to the question the bench is most likely to ask first is settled before the hearing rather than during it.

Where a matter runs across several hearings, we maintain a running note of the Court’s observations so that the argument develops with the bench rather than against it.

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Does the firm have an Advocate on Record?

Yes. Every filing before the Supreme Court must be made through an Advocate on Record enrolled under the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, and the firm’s associates include Advocates on Record through whom the firm’s Supreme Court matters are filed. Mr. Shailendra Singh appears as counsel.

Under Article 133 of the Schedule to the Limitation Act, 1963, the period is sixty days where a certificate of fitness has been refused by the High Court, sixty days in a case involving a sentence of death, and ninety days in any other case, running from the date of the judgment or order. The Court may condone delay on sufficient cause, but the grounds must be specifically pleaded and supported, and a delay explained in general terms is routinely refused. Statutory appeals carry their own periods — an appeal under Section 62 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, for example, must be filed within forty-five days.

Yes, and the Court encourages it, referring matters to the Supreme Court Mediation Centre in appropriate cases. Mr. Singh is a mediator trained under the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court of India and empanelled with the Supreme Court Mediation Centre, and the firm assesses the prospect of a negotiated resolution at every stage, including after leave has been granted.

The order under challenge continues to operate and the proceedings below continue. A refusal of interim relief at the notice stage is not a determination of the petition and does not indicate that leave will be refused, but it does mean the consequences of the order below must be planned for. We advise on that contingency at the outset rather than after the application has been declined.

This page is provided for general information about the firm’s areas of practice. It is not legal advice, and no advocate–client relationship arises from reading it or from an enquiry. The law stated is current as at the date of publication and may change.