The Supreme Court of India is the final court of appeal and the ultimate guardian of the Constitution. The Firm represents clients before the Supreme Court in constitutional matters, appeals, and extraordinary remedies — including writ petitions and Special Leave Petitions under Article 136 of the Indian Constitution.
Writ Jurisdiction (Article 32)
Article 32 of the Indian Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to issue writs for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights — a jurisdiction so central to the Constitution that it has been described as its “heart and soul.” The Court can issue five kinds of writs:
- Habeas Corpus — directing that a person illegally or unlawfully detained be produced before the Court
- Mandamus — directing a public authority to perform a public duty it has failed or refused to perform
- Certiorari — quashing an order passed by a lower court, tribunal, or authority without jurisdiction, or in violation of natural justice
- Prohibition — restraining a lower court or tribunal from exceeding its jurisdiction
- Quo Warranto — questioning the legal authority of a person holding a public office
The Firm advises and represents clients in writ petitions before the Supreme Court where Fundamental Rights are directly at stake, as well as before the High Courts under the broader jurisdiction available to them under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution.
Special Leave Petitions (Article 136)
Article 136 of the Indian Constitution confers on the Supreme Court a wide, discretionary power to grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence, or order passed by any Court or tribunal in India — with the sole exception of courts martial. Unlike a statutory right of appeal, a Special Leave Petition (SLP) is not granted as a matter of course: the Court examines whether the matter raises a substantial question of law, involves a gross miscarriage of justice, or touches on an issue of general public importance before granting leave at all.
SLP practice therefore involves two distinct stages of advocacy:
- The admission stage — persuading the Court that the case merits the grant of leave in the first place, which turns heavily on how the petition is drafted and argued.
- The appeal stage — once leave is granted and the matter is registered as a civil or criminal appeal, arguing the case on its merits before the Court.
The Firm assists clients through both stages — from drafting a focused, well-reasoned SLP that meets the Court’s threshold for admission, to representing them through final disposal of the appeal.
The Firm’s Supreme Court practice is built on thorough research, precise drafting, and a realistic view of what the Court is likely to entertain. This matters particularly at the SLP stage, where petitions that are sharply focused on a genuine question of law or manifest injustice fare far better than those that simply reargue the merits already decided by the courts below.