In short. An SLP from Delhi High Court is a request under Article 136 of the Constitution asking the Supreme Court for permission to appeal a High Court judgment or order. It is for anyone who lost in the High Court and believes the decision is legally wrong, not merely disappointing. The petition must usually be filed within 90 days of the judgment. Most petitions are decided at the first one or two hearings, either by issue of notice or by dismissal. Your next step is to get the judgment and the High Court file reviewed quickly, before the time runs out.
Is this your situation?
- The Delhi High Court has dismissed your appeal, writ petition, bail application or quashing petition.
- A Division Bench has decided your Letters Patent Appeal or family court appeal against you.
- You have been convicted, or your acquittal reversed, by the Delhi High Court.
- The High Court has passed an interim order that you believe causes serious harm.
- You won in the High Court and expect the other side to go to the Supreme Court.
- You live abroad or outside Delhi and need to know whether the case can still be taken further.
- More than 60 days have passed since the judgment and you are worried about the time limit.
Key points
- Special leave is permission, not a right. Under Article 136 the Supreme Court decides first whether your case deserves to be heard at all, and most petitions are dismissed at that stage.
- The clock is 90 days from the judgment. Apply for the certified copy of the Delhi High Court judgment the same week it is pronounced, because the time spent getting it is excluded only if you applied in time.
- Use the remedies inside the High Court first. If a Letters Patent Appeal lies to a Division Bench, the Supreme Court usually expects you to have filed it before coming up.
- A convicted person must usually surrender before the SLP is heard. If you are on bail pending appeal and the High Court upholds the conviction, plan for this before the judgment day if you can.
- Only an Advocate-on-Record can file in the Supreme Court. Your Delhi High Court lawyer can prepare the case, but the filing goes through an Advocate-on-Record.
The short answer: Article 136 and the special leave petition
You can go to the Supreme Court against almost any Delhi High Court judgment or order, but in most cases you have to ask for permission first. That request is a special leave petition, filed under Article 136 of the Constitution. Article 136 gives the Supreme Court a 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 an exception for military tribunals.
The word that matters is discretionary. Since Pritam Singh v. The State (1950), the Supreme Court has said it uses this power sparingly and in exceptional cases, where there is a substantial question of law, a grave injustice, or a decision that departs from settled law in a way that needs correcting. It is not a second round of appeal in which the evidence is weighed afresh. If the High Court took one of two reasonable views of the facts, the Supreme Court will rarely interfere.
There are two stages. At the first, often called the admission stage, the court decides whether to issue notice to the other side or dismiss the petition. If it later grants leave, the SLP becomes a civil appeal or criminal appeal with a new number and is heard on merits, sometimes years later. Many petitions never get past the first hearing.
SLP from Delhi High Court: what the Supreme Court actually looks for
An SLP from Delhi High Court succeeds at the admission stage when the petition shows, on the first page, a clear legal error that matters. The judges at a fresh-matters hearing may have dozens of cases on their board. They read the synopsis, the list of dates and the questions of law, and they look at the impugned judgment. If the error is not visible quickly, the petition is usually dismissed in a line.
The kinds of errors that draw attention are fairly consistent. The High Court ignored a binding Supreme Court judgment, or applied a law that had been amended. It decided a question it was not asked to decide, or refused to decide one that was argued. It reversed a finding of fact without dealing with the reasons the lower court gave. It passed an order without hearing a party whose rights were affected. In criminal cases, it upheld a conviction on evidence that cannot legally support it, or it refused bail on grounds the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected.
What does not work is a petition that says the High Court should have believed your witnesses rather than the other side's. The same applies to a petition that repeats the High Court arguments word for word. The Supreme Court is asking a different question: is this a case where the law needs to be stated or an injustice corrected at the national level? When Advocate B.K. Singh reviews a Delhi High Court judgment for a possible SLP, the first exercise is to write the legal error in two sentences. If it cannot be put that briefly, it is usually a sign that the case is about facts, and the honest advice may be not to file.
Appeals as of right: the narrow cases where no special leave is needed
A small group of cases can go to the Supreme Court without asking for special leave. Under Articles 132, 133 and 134, an appeal lies where the High Court certifies that the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution, or a substantial question of law of general importance that needs to be decided by the Supreme Court. Under Article 134A, the request for that certificate is made to the High Court itself, orally or in writing, immediately after the judgment is pronounced. In practice certificates are rarely asked for and rarely granted, so most litigants go by SLP.
In criminal cases, Article 134 gives an appeal as of right where the High Court on appeal reverses an acquittal and sentences the accused to death, or withdraws a case to itself and sentences the accused to death. The Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act 1970 extends this to cases where the High Court reverses an acquittal and sentences the accused to imprisonment for life or for ten years or more. Section 420 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (old Section 379 CrPC) carries the same rule for appeals against a conviction recorded by the High Court after reversing an acquittal.
Some statutes also give a direct appeal. Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971 gives an appeal as of right against an order of the High Court punishing for contempt, and where the order is of a single judge the appeal goes first to a Division Bench. Tax laws provide appeals to the Supreme Court from High Court judgments in tax appeals, sometimes on a certificate. If your case falls under one of these, check that statute's time limit before drafting.
Use the remedies inside the Delhi High Court first
Before thinking about the Supreme Court, check whether the Delhi High Court itself has another level. Many judgments of a single judge, especially in writ petitions and on the original side, can be challenged by a Letters Patent Appeal to a Division Bench. Where an LPA lies and was not filed, the Supreme Court will usually decline to entertain an SLP and send you back. There are exceptions, but you should not count on one.
Where the single judge decided a commercial suit, an appeal under Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act goes to the Commercial Appellate Division within 60 days. Criminal matters decided by a single judge (bail, quashing, criminal revision, criminal appeal) have no internal appeal, so the next step is the Supreme Court. The same is true of family court appeals and most civil first and second appeals, which are already decided by the High Court as an appellate court.
A review petition is a different kind of remedy. It asks the same High Court bench to correct an error apparent on the face of the record, or to consider important material that could not be produced earlier. It is not an appeal in disguise. If the judgment has an obvious slip, such as a wrong date, a missed argument that was recorded in the order sheet or a mistaken reading of a document, a review petition in the Delhi High Court can be quicker than an SLP. If you file a review, keep a close eye on the SLP time limit, and take advice on how the review period will be counted.
Time limit: 90 days, certified copies and condonation of delay
The Supreme Court Rules 2013 give 90 days from the date of the High Court judgment or order to file a special leave petition, in civil and criminal cases alike. Where a certificate was refused by the High Court under Article 134A, the period is 60 days from the order refusing the certificate. The time taken to get the certified copy of the judgment is excluded under Section 12 of the Limitation Act, but only from the date you applied for it. People who wait two months and then apply for a copy lose that benefit.
So the first practical step after any adverse judgment is the copy application. The Delhi High Court issues certified copies on application, and the process is explained in our guide on getting a certified copy of a Delhi High Court order. The Supreme Court registry will also accept a petition with the downloaded copy of the judgment and an application for exemption from filing the certified copy, if the case is urgent.
Late petitions are not barred outright. You file an application for condonation of delay explaining each period of the delay with dates and documents: illness with medical records, a change of lawyer, time spent in custody, a genuine wait for papers. The Supreme Court is strict with long, poorly explained delays. A delay of a few weeks with a clear reason is often condoned. A delay of a year explained in one vague paragraph usually is not.
Grounds that can carry an SLP, and grounds that rarely do
- Conflict with a binding judgment. The High Court decided contrary to a Supreme Court ruling on the same point, or did not notice a later ruling that changes the answer.
- A substantial question of law. The case raises a legal question that affects many people, such as the interpretation of a statute, a rule or a constitutional provision, and the answer is not settled.
- Breach of natural justice. The High Court decided against a party who was not heard, or decided the case on a point the party had no chance to answer.
- Perverse findings. A finding of fact is based on no evidence, ignores material evidence, or rests on a misreading of a document. Mere disagreement with the view taken does not qualify.
- Grave injustice in a criminal case. A conviction rests on evidence that cannot legally support it, a sentence is wholly out of line, or bail was refused on reasons the Supreme Court has rejected.
- Rarely enough: a different view of the same facts. If the High Court's reading of the evidence is one possible view, the Supreme Court will usually not substitute its own.
How an SLP from Delhi High Court moves, step by step
The sequence below is the usual route for a civil or criminal SLP. Times are ranges and vary with the bench, the urgency and the registry.
Apply for the certified copy and collect the High Court file
On the day of judgment, or within a few days, apply for the certified copy. Collect the paper book filed in the High Court, every order sheet, the trial court record if it was before the High Court, and the written submissions. Gaps in the record are hard to fill later.
Get a written opinion on merits
A lawyer reads the judgment against the record and the law, and tells you in writing whether there is a legal error worth taking up, what the risks are, and whether an internal remedy such as an LPA or review should come first. Honest advice at this stage sometimes ends the matter.
Draft the petition
The SLP has a fixed structure: synopsis and list of dates, the questions of law, the grounds, a declaration that the documents were part of the High Court record, and the prayer for leave and interim relief. Annexures are copies of documents from the High Court record, each marked. New documents need a separate application.
File through an Advocate-on-Record
The petition is signed and filed by an Advocate-on-Record, who is the only advocate allowed to file in the Supreme Court. The registry checks it and raises defects, which are cured before the matter is listed. Urgent matters can be mentioned for early listing.
The first hearing
Fresh matters are heard by benches of two or three judges. The bench may dismiss the petition, issue notice to the other side, issue notice limited to a specific point, or issue notice and grant interim relief such as a stay. Many SLPs are decided here in a few minutes.
After notice: counter affidavit and rejoinder
If notice issues, the respondent files a counter affidavit and you may file a rejoinder. The matter may be heard again on whether leave should be granted, sometimes with interim relief continued in the meantime.
Leave granted and final hearing
When leave is granted, the SLP becomes a civil appeal or criminal appeal. It then waits for final hearing, which can take years in an ordinary case.
Time and cost at each stage
| Stage | Typical time | Court fee and other costs (general terms) |
|---|---|---|
| Certified copy of Delhi High Court judgment | A few days to a few weeks | Copying charges per page; urgent copies cost more |
| Legal opinion on merits | One to two weeks after the file is complete | Professional fee agreed in writing; no court fee |
| Drafting and filing the SLP | Two to four weeks; faster if urgent | Supreme Court court fee is modest; check the current schedule. Printing, paper books and Advocate-on-Record charges apply |
| Curing registry defects and first listing | A few days to several weeks | No separate fee; delay if defects are not cured promptly |
| Admission hearing (notice or dismissal) | Usually decided at the first or second listing | Fee for arguing counsel, and for senior counsel if engaged |
| Pleadings after notice | Two to six months | Further professional fee; small filing costs |
| Final hearing after leave | One year to several years | Fee for final hearing; costs can be awarded against the losing side |
Documents to gather for a special leave petition
From the Delhi High Court
- Certified copy of the judgment or order, or the downloaded copy with proof of the copy application
- The complete paper book filed in the High Court, with all annexures
- Every order sheet, from the first listing to the judgment
- Written submissions and any notes handed up at the hearing
- Counter affidavits and rejoinders filed by both sides
From the court below
- The trial court or tribunal judgment, decree or order
- Evidence relied on: depositions, exhibits, the FIR and chargesheet in a criminal case
- In a criminal case, the custody certificate from jail and the nominal roll if the petitioner is in custody
From you
- A short note of dates in your own words
- Identity proof and, if you are abroad, a notarised or apostilled affidavit and vakalatnama
- Medical records or other papers explaining any delay
- Contact details of the lawyer who handled the High Court case
Criminal cases: conviction, bail orders and the surrender rule
Criminal SLPs from the Delhi High Court fall into a few groups: against judgments upholding or recording a conviction, against orders refusing or granting bail, against orders refusing to quash an FIR, and against orders on charge or summoning. Each is approached differently.
Where the High Court has upheld a conviction and sentence of imprisonment, the Supreme Court Rules require the petitioner to surrender before the petition is listed, unless the court grants exemption from surrendering. An application for exemption is filed with the SLP, and the court considers it at the first hearing. If you were on bail during the High Court appeal through suspension of sentence, that order ends with the judgment. Many families are caught unprepared by this. Planning for the day of judgment, including what happens if the appeal is dismissed, is part of good advice in any criminal appeal in the Delhi High Court.
Bail SLPs are common and move faster. The Supreme Court looks at the period of custody, the stage of trial, the nature of the evidence, and whether the High Court applied the settled principles from cases such as Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI (2022). A bail SLP that only repeats the arguments made below rarely succeeds. A complainant can also challenge an order granting bail, but the court is slower to cancel bail once granted than to refuse it in the first place.
SLPs against refusal to quash an FIR are possible, but the Supreme Court often declines to interfere where the defence can be raised at trial. The stronger cases show a clear legal bar on the face of the record.
Civil, property, family, tax and service cases
In civil and property cases, the Supreme Court sees SLPs against Division Bench judgments in first appeals and LPAs, and against single judge judgments in second appeals and revisions. A second appeal decided without framing a substantial question of law under Section 100 CPC, or a first appeal decided without discussing the evidence, are examples of errors that can draw notice. A dispute over who is more believable about an oral agreement rarely does.
Family cases reach the Supreme Court after a family court appeal is decided by a Division Bench. The Supreme Court can also dissolve a marriage on irretrievable breakdown under Article 142, as held in Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan (2023), a power the High Court does not have. Spouses who have lived apart for years and have both asked for an end sometimes take this route, often through the Supreme Court Mediation Centre. It is not a shortcut for a contested case.
In tax matters, appeals and writs decided by the Delhi High Court go up by SLP or by statutory appeal, depending on the law. In service matters, an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal is first challenged before a Division Bench of the High Court, as L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997) requires, and only then by SLP. CAPF personnel, who go straight to the High Court, follow the same route after the High Court decides.
The government is often the party going up. If you won against a ministry or a public body, expect an SLP close to the 90th day, or later with a delay application.
Interim orders of the High Court: when an SLP is premature
An SLP can be filed against an interim order, such as a stay, an injunction, a refusal of interim protection or a direction to deposit money. The Supreme Court is cautious with these. Its usual response is that the High Court should decide the matter itself. Interference is more likely where the interim order effectively decides the case, causes harm that cannot be undone, or was passed without hearing the affected party.
Before filing against an interim order, ask whether the High Court itself can fix the problem. An application to vacate or modify the order, an early hearing request, or the next date may cost less and give relief sooner. Our guide on how interim orders work and how long they last explains the options inside the High Court.
In practice, Advocate B.K. Singh advises clients facing a harsh interim order to file a short, focused application before the High Court bench first, with the specific harm set out in figures and dates. If the bench refuses, the Supreme Court then has a clear record showing the High Court was asked and declined, which makes an SLP more credible than one filed in haste.
A made-up example: the Rohini shop and the reversed decree
Here's a made-up example. Mr. Gupta owns a shop in Rohini. He sued his tenant for possession and won in the trial court. The tenant appealed. The Delhi High Court, deciding a second appeal, reversed the decree after holding that the tenancy was protected under the Delhi Rent Control Act. The rent shown in the papers was Rs 12,000 a month, well above the Rs 3,500 limit in Section 3(c) of that Act. The judgment did not mention the rent figure at all.
Mr. Gupta's lawyer applied for the certified copy within two days of the judgment and had the full file reviewed. The opinion identified two points: the High Court had overlooked a document on record showing the rent, and the judgment had been decided on a question of law that was not framed under Section 100 CPC. Both were legal errors visible on the record. A review was considered, but because the second point went to the High Court's approach to the appeal, an SLP was chosen.
The petition was filed on day 58. At the first hearing the bench issued notice and directed that status quo on possession be maintained. That did not mean Mr. Gupta would win. It meant the Supreme Court thought the case deserved a hearing. Had the case been only about whether the tenant or the owner was more believable, the advice would have been different.
If the SLP is dismissed: what happens to the High Court judgment
A dismissal at the admission stage by a short order (for example, 'special leave petition is dismissed') means the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. It does not mean the Supreme Court approved every line of the High Court judgment. In Kunhayammed v. State of Kerala (2000), the court held that such a dismissal does not merge the High Court judgment into the Supreme Court's order. In Khoday Distilleries v. Sri Mahadeshwara Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane (2019), it confirmed that a review petition can still be filed in the High Court after a summary dismissal of the SLP.
If the dismissal order gives reasons, those reasons bind the parties and can be cited in later cases. If leave is granted and the appeal is then decided, the High Court judgment merges into the Supreme Court judgment, and the High Court can no longer review it.
Within the Supreme Court, a review petition under Article 137 can be filed within 30 days. It is usually decided by the judges in chambers without an oral hearing, and is allowed only for an error apparent on the record. After that, a curative petition under Rupa Ashok Hurra v. Ashok Hurra (2002) is possible in very narrow cases, such as a breach of natural justice or a judge's undisclosed interest, and needs a certificate from a Senior Advocate. Both are rare remedies and should not be treated as further appeals.
For the side that won in the High Court: caveats and replies
If you won in the Delhi High Court and expect the other side to go up, you can file a caveat in the Supreme Court. A caveat requires the registry to inform you when an SLP is filed against that judgment, so that you are not surprised by an interim order passed without hearing you. The idea is similar to a caveat in the Delhi High Court, but it is a separate filing in the Supreme Court through an Advocate-on-Record.
When notice is issued on an SLP against you, the counter affidavit is your chance to show that the case is about facts, that the High Court considered every argument, and that there is no question of law. A good counter is short and attaches the parts of the record the petitioner left out. Respondents often lose ground by filing late or by repeating the entire High Court argument.
Mistakes that waste a Supreme Court petition
- Waiting to apply for the certified copy. The Limitation Act exclusion starts only from the date of the copy application, so two months of waiting can cost you the case.
- Skipping the LPA. Coming to the Supreme Court against a single judge's writ judgment, when a Letters Patent Appeal was available, usually ends with the petition being dismissed or withdrawn.
- Filing a fact appeal dressed as a law appeal. Questions of law that are really complaints about the evidence are recognised quickly at the admission hearing.
- Adding new documents without permission. Documents that were not before the High Court need a separate application and a good reason; slipping them into annexures invites objections.
- Ignoring the surrender requirement. A convicted petitioner who does not plan for surrender or exemption can face arrest before the petition is even heard.
Who hears an SLP, who files it, and clients outside Delhi
The Supreme Court sits at Tilak Marg, a short distance from the Delhi High Court. Fresh SLPs are listed before benches of two or three judges, allocated by subject under the court's roster. Matters raising substantial questions of interpretation of the Constitution can be referred to larger benches. There are no regional benches, so an SLP from Delhi High Court is heard in the same building as an SLP from any other High Court.
Filing is reserved to Advocates-on-Record, who have passed the Supreme Court's own examination. Our chambers prepare SLPs from Delhi High Court judgments and work with Advocates-on-Record for the filing, with the lawyer who knows the High Court file continuing to brief arguing counsel. Hearings are physical and, in many matters, by video link. You do not need to attend unless the court directs it.
Clients abroad can sign the vakalatnama and affidavits before a notary or the Indian consulate in their country, with apostille where required, and send the originals by courier. Families outside Delhi can follow the case through the Supreme Court's online case status and through regular updates from the lawyer. Our page for NRI and overseas clients explains how papers are handled across countries. For a fuller account of the Supreme Court stage itself, read our page on Supreme Court SLPs against Delhi High Court judgments.
What to do this week
Note the date of the judgment and count 90 days from it. Apply for the certified copy at once if it has not been done. Ask your High Court lawyer for the complete file, including order sheets and written submissions, and keep a second copy. If you are a convicted person on bail, or a family member of one, find out exactly what the judgment says about surrender.
Then get the judgment read by someone who can tell you whether there is a legal error, whether an LPA or review should come first, and what an SLP would realistically achieve. Our page on taking a Delhi High Court judgment to the Supreme Court sets out how we handle that stage. For advice on your papers, or for updates on the law on special leave petitions, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
Can I file an SLP myself without a lawyer?
Yes, a party can appear in person in the Supreme Court, and the registry has a procedure for petitioners in person. The petition is first screened, and the court may suggest legal aid. In practice, the admission hearing is short and technical, so most litigants use an Advocate-on-Record.
Is the 90-day limit for SLP counted from the date of judgment or from when I got the copy?
It is counted from the date of the judgment or order. The time taken to obtain the certified copy is excluded, but only from the date on which you applied for it. Apply for the copy promptly to get the full benefit.
What does 'issue notice' mean in a Supreme Court order?
It means the court found the petition worth hearing and has asked the other side to respond. It is not a final decision in your favour. The case will be heard again after the reply, and leave may or may not be granted.
Will the Supreme Court stay the Delhi High Court judgment automatically?
No. Filing an SLP does not stay the judgment. You must ask for a stay by a separate application, and the court decides it at the hearing. Until a stay is granted, the High Court judgment can be enforced.
Can I go to the Supreme Court against a bail rejection by Delhi High Court?
Yes, a bail refusal by the High Court can be challenged by SLP. You can also file a fresh bail application in the High Court if circumstances change, such as a long period in custody or the filing of the chargesheet. Which route is better depends on why bail was refused.
How many times can an SLP be filed against the same order?
Normally only once. If an SLP is dismissed, a second SLP against the same order is not maintainable, though a review petition or, in rare cases, a curative petition may be filed. An SLP withdrawn with liberty to approach the High Court is treated differently from one dismissed on merits.
Can new evidence be added in the Supreme Court?
Generally no. The Supreme Court decides on the record that was before the High Court. Additional documents need a separate application showing why they could not be produced earlier and why they matter.
Do I have to come to Delhi for my Supreme Court case?
Usually not. The case is argued by counsel, and many hearings can be attended by video link. Papers can be signed and notarised where you live, including abroad, and sent by courier.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, Delhi district courts and tribunals. This guide was written and reviewed by his team.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.
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