Special Leave to Appeal by the Supreme Court (SLP)
Official heading: “Special leave to appeal by the Supreme Court”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part V, Article 136, printed page 63
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1. In One Sentence
Article 136 grants the Supreme Court plenary, discretionary power to grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order passed by any court or tribunal in India.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 136 is one of the most powerful and distinctive constitutional safety valves in the Indian judicial system. It vests the Supreme Court with untrammeled, extraordinary appellate discretion.
Notwithstanding anything in Chapter IV, the Supreme Court may 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.
Key Features: (a) It is not a matter of right; it is a discretionary power exercised to prevent grave miscarriage of justice; (b) It applies to both civil and criminal matters; (c) It covers final orders as well as interlocutory (interim) orders; (d) It applies to any court or statutory tribunal (such as NCLAT, NGT, Armed Forces exception aside).
Clause (2) contains a single strict constitutional exclusion: Article 136 does NOT apply to any judgment, determination, sentence, or order passed by any court or tribunal constituted by or under any law relating to the Armed Forces.
Judicial Landmark: In Pritam Singh (1950) and Tirupati Balaji (2004), the Supreme Court emphasized that Article 136 is an extraordinary jurisdiction to be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional cases where substantial injustice has occurred.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A citizen is wrongfully denied a pension by an administrative tribunal and the High Court refuses to grant a certificate of appeal under Article 134A.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 136 constitutes the ultimate constitutional safety net against judicial and administrative injustice across India.
- Plenary discretion: Overrides ordinary appellate limitations.
- Universal coverage: Applies to all courts and quasi-judicial tribunals in India.
- Covers final judgments and interim interlocutory orders.
- Express exclusion: Military courts and armed forces tribunals under Clause (2).
- Reserved for exceptional cases of manifest injustice or substantial legal questions.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part V, Article 136, printed page 63 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.