What is a Special Leave Petition under Article 136?

A Special Leave Petition asks the Supreme Court to exercise its discretionary power under Article 136 to grant leave to appeal from a judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order of a court or tribunal in India, subject to constitutional and procedural limits.

What is the usual time limit for filing an SLP?

The general Supreme Court Rules framework commonly provides 90 days from the impugned judgment or order, and 60 days where the relevant certificate to appeal has been refused, subject to special rules, case category, computation and condonation requirements.

Is special leave under Article 136 a right?

No. Article 136 confers a discretionary power on the Supreme Court. A petitioner may seek special leave, but cannot claim grant of leave as an automatic appellate right.

Supreme Court Procedure

Special Leave Petition under Article 136: Meaning, Limitation, Grounds and Filing Procedure

Updated for the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, amendments through 2025 and current Supreme Court filing resources

In brief: A Special Leave Petition, commonly called an SLP, is a petition requesting the Supreme Court to grant special leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution. The power is extraordinary and discretionary. Filing an SLP does not itself create a right to appeal; the appellate stage begins only if the Supreme Court grants leave.

Article 136 of the Constitution

Article 136(1) provides that, notwithstanding the other appellate provisions in the relevant constitutional chapter, the Supreme Court may in its discretion grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed or made by any court or tribunal in the territory of India.

The provision gives the Supreme Court an exceptionally wide discretionary jurisdiction, but the Court has consistently treated Article 136 as an extraordinary power to be exercised judicially and selectively.

India Code - Constitution of India

Article 136(2): Armed Forces exception

Article 136(2) states that the Article 136 power does not apply to a judgment, determination, sentence or order passed or made by a court or tribunal constituted by or under a law relating to the Armed Forces.

This constitutional exception should not be confused with separate statutory appeal provisions that may permit an appeal to the Supreme Court under a particular Armed Forces law.

What is a Special Leave Petition?

An SLP is the procedural vehicle by which a petitioner asks the Supreme Court to exercise the discretionary jurisdiction conferred by Article 136. At this first stage, the Court decides whether leave to appeal should be granted.

If leave is refused, the proceeding ends as an SLP. If leave is granted, the matter enters the appellate stage and is treated as an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Two-stage jurisdiction: The Supreme Court has reiterated that Article 136 operates in two stages: first, consideration of the request for special leave; second, if leave is granted, exercise of appellate jurisdiction in the resulting appeal.

Is SLP limited to substantial questions of law?

No. The older formulation that an SLP can be filed only when a substantial question of law or constitutional law is involved is too narrow.

Article 136 is broader. It permits the Supreme Court, in its discretion, to intervene in an appropriate case involving serious legal error, grave injustice, perversity, jurisdictional error, violation of natural justice or other exceptional circumstances warranting Supreme Court intervention.

At the same time, Article 136 is not intended to convert the Supreme Court into a routine court of further appeal in every case.

Against which orders can an SLP be filed?

Subject to Article 136(2) and other legal restrictions, special leave may be sought against a judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order passed by a court or tribunal in India.

Article 136 is therefore not confined to High Court judgments. However, maintainability, exhaustion of available remedies, the nature of the forum and the facts of the case remain important considerations.

Who may approach the Supreme Court under Article 136?

Ordinarily, the person approaching the Court is a party adversely affected by the impugned judgment or order. However, Article 136 is framed as a power vested in the Supreme Court rather than as a private appellate right conferred only on a defined category of persons.

The Supreme Court has recognised in appropriate cases that even a person who was not a party to the original proceeding may invoke Article 136 where the circumstances legally justify such intervention. Standing therefore depends on the nature of the grievance, the proceeding and the interests affected.

No automatic right to leave: A person may file an SLP if maintainable, but cannot demand special leave as a matter of right. The Supreme Court may dismiss the petition at the leave stage without converting the matter into an appeal.

Supreme Court Rules governing SLPs

SLP procedure is governed by the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 as amended, together with current Registry directions, filing checklists and prescribed forms. Civil and criminal SLPs have category-specific procedural requirements.

Supreme Court Rules, 2013 and amendments

Official SLP Form and filing checklist

The Supreme Court currently publishes the prescribed SLP format, including Form 28, together with filing checklists and other forms on its official website.

Supreme Court Forms - SLP Form 28 and filing resources

General limitation period

General SLP against judgment/order	Ordinarily 90 days from the date of the impugned judgment or order, subject to the applicable Supreme Court Rule, category-specific provisions and computation rules.
Where certificate to appeal is refused	Ordinarily 60 days from the relevant order refusing the certificate, subject to the applicable Rule and filing facts.
Delayed filing	An application for condonation of delay must be filed where required, explaining sufficient cause. Condonation is discretionary and not automatic.

Different case categories, including certain criminal and death-sentence matters, may be governed by special limitation rules. The precise last date should therefore be calculated from the current Supreme Court Rules and the facts of the impugned proceeding.

Contents of a Special Leave Petition

The SLP should contain the facts and legal grounds necessary to enable the Supreme Court to decide whether special leave should be granted. Depending on the prescribed format and case category, the petition ordinarily includes:

Cause title and details of the parties.
Particulars of the impugned judgment or order.
Chronology or list of dates and events.
Questions of law or issues warranting Supreme Court consideration.
Grounds for grant of special leave.
Statement regarding earlier proceedings and other petitions concerning the impugned matter, as required by the Rules and form.
Grounds for interim relief, where interim protection is sought.
Prayer for grant of special leave and consequential relief.
Required declarations, affidavit and Advocate-on-Record filing certifications.

Documents accompanying an SLP

The impugned judgment or order and other relevant pleadings, annexures and documents must be filed in accordance with the Supreme Court Rules, prescribed form and Registry checklist.

A certified copy is ordinarily required where prescribed, but current Supreme Court practice also recognises applications seeking exemption from filing a certified copy in appropriate cases. Accordingly, the older statement that a certified copy must invariably accompany every SLP without exception is not accurate.

Role of the Advocate-on-Record

Except where the Rules permit a party to appear and act in person or another specific procedure applies, filing and acting in the Supreme Court is undertaken through an Advocate-on-Record. The petition must comply with the AOR and filing requirements prescribed by the Supreme Court Rules.

What happens after filing?

The Registry scrutinises the petition for compliance with the Rules and filing requirements.
Defects, if any, must be cured within the applicable procedural framework.
The SLP is listed before the Court for consideration of leave, subject to listing practice.
The Court may dismiss the SLP, issue notice, grant interim relief, or grant leave depending on the case.
If leave is granted, the SLP is converted into an appeal and the Court then exercises appellate jurisdiction.

What happens if an SLP is dismissed?

A dismissal of an SLP at the leave stage does not ordinarily have the same legal effect as a judgment rendered after grant of leave in an appeal. The doctrine of merger generally does not apply merely because special leave was refused.

A reasoned order refusing leave may nevertheless contain declarations of law or findings that have legal consequences according to settled Supreme Court doctrine.

Grounds commonly urged for grant of special leave

There is no closed statutory list of Article 136 grounds. Depending on the case, a petitioner may rely on circumstances such as:

Grave miscarriage of justice.
Serious error of law affecting the outcome.
Jurisdictional error.
Perversity or findings unsupported by the record.
Violation of natural justice.
Failure to consider material evidence or binding precedent.
Important legal questions requiring authoritative clarification.
Exceptional facts requiring intervention to prevent manifest injustice.

Article 136 is discretionary, not a regular appellate tier

The Supreme Court's official jurisdiction page describes Article 136 as a very wide appellate jurisdiction exercised in the Court's discretion. That width is accompanied by judicial restraint. The Court does not ordinarily interfere merely because another view of the facts is possible.

The strength of an SLP therefore depends not only on identifying an error, but on demonstrating why the error or injustice warrants the extraordinary intervention of the Supreme Court.

SLP vs statutory appeal

Special Leave Petition	Seeks discretionary leave under Article 136 before an appeal exists.
Statutory / constitutional appeal	Invokes an appellate right or route specifically created by the Constitution or a statute, subject to its conditions.
After leave is granted	The SLP enters the appellate stage and the Supreme Court exercises appellate jurisdiction.

Official Supreme Court resources

Supreme Court of India - Jurisdiction

Supreme Court Rules, 2013 and amendments

Supreme Court Forms - SLP Form 28 and checklists

This article is a general procedural guide. SLP maintainability, limitation, filing documents and grounds depend on the case category, current Supreme Court Rules, Registry requirements and the impugned judgment or order.