VEDANTA LTD. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS M/S. SESA STERLITE LTD.) VS. THE GOA FOUNDATION & ORS.

VEDANTA LTD. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS M/S. SESA STERLITE LTD.) VS. THE GOA FOUNDATION & ORS.

[REVIEW PETITION (CIVIL) DIARY NO. 18447 OF 2020]

DR DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, J

9TH JULY 2021

LAW POINT- In accordance with Rule 2 of Order XLVII of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, an application for review of a judgement has to be filed within thirty days of the date of the judgement or order that is sought to be reviewed.

FACTS

The review petitions have been preferred before the Apex Court by the State of Goa both with the delay of 650 days and by Vedanta Limited (formerly known as M/s Sesa Sterlite Limited) all four with a delay of 907 days against the judgement of a two- judge bench of Supreme Court in Goa Foundation vs Sesa Sterlite Limited & Ors., pronounced on 7 February 2018.

OBSERVATION OF HON’BLE SUPREME COURT

• In accordance with Rule 2 of Order XLVII of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, an application for review of a judgement has to be filed within thirty days of the date of the judgement or order that is sought to be reviewed.
• No cogent grounds have been furnished for the delay between 20  and  26  months by the two parties in filing their applications for review.
• The judges comprising the two-judge bench in Goa Foundation  II, Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, retired from the Supreme  Court on  30 December 2018 and 6 May 2020, respectively. The State of Goa preferred its four review petitions in the month of November 2019, after Justice Madan B Lokur’s retirement, while Vedanta Limited preferred its four review petitions in the month of August 2020, right after Justice Deepak Gupta’s retirement. Such practice must be firmly disapproved to preserve the institutional sanctity of the decision making of this Court. The review petitioners were aware of the decision of this Court.

DECISION

These review petitions are dismissed on the ground of limitation alone. However, no legitimate grounds for review of the judgment in Goa Foundation have been made out, and thereby these review petitions are dismissed on merits as well.