The Curative Petition is the last chance available for the protection from the compensation of injustice in the court after the review petition is dismissed or has been exhausted. It is a concept that evolved by the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and Anr. (2002)[1] in which the question was whether an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgement or order of the Supreme Court after the dismissal of a review petition.[2] The Supreme Court held that to prevent abuse of its process and to cure gross miscarriage of justice, it may reconsider its judgements in exercise of its inherent powers.[3] For that purpose, the court has devised what has been termed as a curative petition in which[4] the petitioner is required to aver specifically that the grounds mentioned therein had been taken in the review petition filed earlier and that it was dismissed by circulation, which must be certified by a senior advocate. The curative petition is then circulated to the three most senior judges and to the judges who delivered the impugned judgement if available. No time limit is given for filing curative petition.[5] It is guaranteed under Article 137 of Constitution of India, which gives the power to the Supreme Court to review of its own judgements and orders.
The main difference between the review petition and curative petition is the fact that review petition is inherently provided in the constitution of India whereas the emergence of the curative petition is in relation with the interpretation of the review petition by the Supreme Court which is enshrined in article 137.