SUPREME COURT (ENLARGEMENT OF CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION) ACT, 1970

The preamble of the Act (Purpose of enacting law)

The preamble of the SUPREME COURT (ENLARGEMENT OF CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION) ACT, 1970 reads “An Act to enlarge the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in regard to criminal matters”.

On 9 August 1970, Central Government promulgated SUPREME COURT (ENLARGEMENT OF CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION) ACT, 1970 by virtue of the power conferred by Article 134(2) of the Constitution of India. 

As per Article 134(2) of the Constitution of India, “Parliament may by law confer on the Supreme Court any further powers to entertain and hear appeals from any judgment, final order or sentence in a criminal proceeding of a High Court in the territory of India subject to such conditions and limitations as may be specified in such law”. 

Background

Before the commencement of this Act, the accused person had a constitutional right under Article 134(1) (a) & (b) to appeal before the Supreme Court in certain circumstances. At the same time, Article 134(1) (c) gives the power to the High Court to certify cases that can be appealed, which must involve a substantial question of law and not merely application of facts or evidence.

It must be noted here that there is no general right to appeal in criminal matters apart from those as laid down in Article 134(1) (a) and (b).

Circumstances under which the accused has an absolute right to appeal before the Supreme Court are:

134(1): An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from any judgment, final order or sentence in a criminal proceeding of a High Court in the territory of India if the High Court

1. has on appeal reversed an order of acquittal of an accused person and sentenced him to death; or 
2.  has withdrawn for trial before itself any case from any court subordinate to its authority and has in such trial convicted the accused person and sentenced him to death; or
3.  Certifies under Article 134A that the case is a fit one for an appeal to the Supreme Court.

It is crucial to note here that as per Article 134(1) the accused person has no absolute right of appeal even in the circumstances mentioned in clauses (a) and (b) of the same article if the High Court sentences him in life imprisonment or imprisonment of 10 or more years leading to loss of his valuable right of human liberty. In such a case, the remedy available to the accused person is to appeal in special and exceptional circumstances only either under Art. 134 (1) (c) or Art. 136 (Special leave to appeal by the Supreme Court) of the Constitution.

Taking this into consideration, Parliament passes the SUPREME COURT (ENLARGEMENT OF CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION) Law which provided the accused whose acquittal is reversed by the High Court and sentenced to 10 or more years of imprisonment for life a right of appeal in the Supreme Court. 

Provisions of the SUPREME COURT (ENLARGEMENT OF CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION) ACT, 1970

Section 2 of the Act states: Without prejudice to the powers conferred on the Supreme Court by clause (1) of Article 134 of the Constitution, an appeal lie to the Supreme Court from any judgment, the final order of sentence in a criminal proceeding of a High Court in the territory of India.

 If the High Court- 

(a) Has on appeal reversed an order of acquittal of an accused person and sentenced him to imprisonment for life or to imprisonment for not less than ten years;

 (b) Has withdrawn for trial before itself any case from any court subordinate to its authority and has in such trial convicted the accused person and sentenced him to imprisonment for life or to imprisonment for not less than ten years.

In Kishore Singh vs The State of Madhya Pradesh, 10 October 1977 the Madhya Pradesh High Court while dealing with the ambit of the above provision held that if a right to appeal lay under Section 2 of this Act, a certificate by the High Court under Article 134(1) (c) would not be necessary. Thus, the right to appeal under Section 2 is in addition to that under Article 134(1) (c).

Conclusion

The Parliament passes the 1970 Act to expand the criminal appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and provides the accused person who has been sentenced to imprisonment for life or to imprisonment for not less than ten years by the High Court a right to appeal before the Supreme Court. Here also, there is no right of appeal if the finding is circumstantial and concurrent.

 This Enlargement was important as it safeguards the life and personal liberty of the members of the civilized society. In the matter of life and personal liberty, it is always considered relevant to entrust the power further to some high authority to scrutinize the validity of the matter.