AVENUES OF APPEAL FOR A FINAL JUDGMENT

The Indian Law or Indian Litigation comprises mainly into two parts, i.e., civil law and criminal law; However, there are many areas of law made of various statutes, and they come under the ambit of either civil law or criminal law. Civil law is guided by the procedures laid down in the Civil Procedure Code. The procedure of criminal law is being regulated under the provision of the Criminal Procedure Code.  Hence, the appeal procedure under civil or criminal law is being regulated by the respective code.

The normal hierarchy of the court is, wherein the order passed by the subordinate is aggrieving either of the party can proceed under the below-mentioned manner.

District Court ---> High Court ---> Supreme Court

Although there is civil law under various statutes, the procedure to approach for appeal is different, but the hierarchy is the same. 

For Company matters before NCLT

NCLT ---> NCLAT ---> Supreme Court

AVENUES OF APPEAL UNDER CIVIL LAW:

Under Civil Law, the appeal is either filed before the Learned Session Judge or before the Hon’ble High Court. It depends on which subordinate has passed the original decree or final order, as the appeal has been provided under different code provisions. The appeal under Civil law consists of two stages, i.e., First Appeal and Second Appeal.

FIRST APPEAL - 

SESSION JUDGE:

The appeal can be filed before the Sessions Judge under Section 96 of Code of Civil Procedure as  Regular First Appeal. This Appeal is maintainable if the Civil Judge Subordinate has passed the civil suit's original decree or final order to the District judge of that district court.  

HIGH COURT 

The aggrieved party can file the appeal under section 96 of the code of civil procedure as Second Appeal. The appeal in said provision is maintainable of the original decree, or final order of the civil suit has been passed by the District Judge, subordinate to the High Court.

Therefore under Section 96, the Appeal is maintainable before the Session Judge of District Court as well as before the High Court.

The Essentials which has to be considered before the filing of First Appeal under section 96 are :

• Original Decree or Final Order passed by the Subordinate court 

• The aggrieved party should file the appeal, or even the aggrieved person can file the appeal after seeking leave of the court.

• Appropriate Court fees according to the  fees decided by the respective court

COMPLIANCE FOR APPELLATE COURT

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of H. Siddiqui (D) By Lr vs. A. Ramalingam AIR 2011 SC 1492 has laid down the required compliance for the court to comply while passing the final order in a matter of the first appeal; the court observed that from the judgment of the appellate court that the court has properly appreciated the facts/evidence, applied its mind and decided the case considering the material on record. The appellate court findings are well-founded and quite convincing. It will amount to substantial compliance of the said provisions if the appellate court's judgment is based on the independent assessment of the relevant evidence on all important aspects. 

The Hon’ble Court holds that it is the final court of fact; the first appellate court must not record a mere general expression of concurrence with the trial court judgment; rather, it must give reasons for its decision on each point independently that of the trial court. 

EXCEPTION:

The parties are barred from filing an appeal under section 96 of these to essentials are there:

• If the decree has been granted based on mutual consent of the parties.

• If the decree has been passed on the amount of small cause, i.e., the amount not exceeding Rs 3000

APPEAL IS BARRED IF THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT DOES NOT EXCEED RS 3000

The Hon’ble Madras High Court has laid down the settled principle of Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure in the matter of Anandhanandham vs. Muniammal. While dismissing the appeal, the Hon'ble Court held that the suit filed therein was for recovery of damages, and the Trial Court had decreed the suit for Rs.2,150/- together with interest at the rate of 12% per annum. This decree was taken on appeal, and the Appellate Court held that the appeal was not maintainable in view of Section 96(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, as the value of the subject matter of the Original Suit did not exceed the sum of Rs.3,000/-.

SECOND APPEAL

The aggrieved party can file the Regular Second Appeal before the High Court under Section 100 of the code of civil procedure. Still, the appeal shall be restrictive only with the consideration of the question of law, i.e., the court will admit the appeal only on one consideration, that is, there should be the presence of substantial question of law in the second appeal.

THE COURT CAN NOT EXPAND THE SCOPE OF APPEAL UNDER SECTION 100

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Nazir Mohamed vs. J. Kamala has laid down the settled ground for the second appeal. The Hon’ble Court held that a second appeal is not a matter of right. The right of appeal is conferred by statute.

A second appeal only lies on a substantial question of law. If statute confers a limited right of appeal, the Court cannot expand the scope of the appeal. It was not open to the Respondent-Plaintiff to re-agitate facts or to call upon the High Court to reanalyze or re-appreciate evidence in a Second Appeal.

TEST FOR SUBSTANTIAL QUESTION OF LAW:

The Hon’ble Apex court in the matter of Hero Vinoth (Minor) vs. Seshammal has laid down the settled principle of a substantial question of law, in accordance with section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the proper test for determining whether a question of law raised in the case is substantial would, in our opinion, be whether it is of general public importance or whether it directly and substantially affects the rights of the parties and if so whether it is either an open question in the sense that it is not finally settled by this Court or by the Privy Council or by the Federal Court or is not free from difficulty or calls for discussion of alternative views. If the question is settled by the highest court or the general principles to be applied in determining the question are well settled, and there is a mere question of applying those principles, or that the plea raised is palpably absurd, the question would not be a substantial question of law.

Hence, the substantial question of law under section 100 arises, in appeal, wherein the subordinate court either has not applied the principle of law laid down in the statute or the principle of law which the Hon’ble Apex Court has decided.

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Author: Adv. Aditya Bhaskar