Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J
1 The review petitions have been preferred by the State of Goa (Diary No
41515 of 2019 and Diary No 41517 of 2019, both with a delay of 650 days and
Diary No 41453 of 2019 and Diary No 41545 of 2019, both with a delay of 651
days) and by Vedanta Limited (formerly known as M/s Sesa Sterlite Limited) (Diary
No 18430 of 2020, Diary No 18435 of 2020, Diary No 18438 of 2020 and Diary No
18447 of 2020, all four with a delay of 907 days) against the judgement of a two-
judge bench of this Court in Goa Foundation vs Sesa Sterlite Limited & Ors.1,
pronounced on 7 February 2018.
2 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 this 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
practise 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.
3 Keeping in mind the above, we are inclined to dismiss these review petitions
on the ground of limitation alone. However, in any event, we also find that no
1 (2018) 4 SCC 218, hereinafter referred to as “Goa Foundation II”
legitimate grounds for review of the judgment in Goa Foundation II have been
made out, and dismiss these review petitions on merits as well.
4 Pending application(s), if any, are disposed of.
[Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud]
[M R Shah]
New Delhi; July 09, 2021