Sikkim High Court: The Division Bench of Meenakshi Madan Rai and Bhaskar Raj Pradhan*, JJ., presiding over a condonation of delay application made by the Union of India in appealing against an order of acquittal by the Trial Court, held that Government applications are governed by Article 114(a) of the (“Limitation Act”), and not by the provisions of Section of the (“CrPC”). The Court found that the applicants had sufficient cause for delay in appealing the Trial Court order.
Background
An application was made under Section of the (“Limitation Act”), by the Government (applicant), seeking condonation of delay in filing the Leave to Appeal under Section under Section of the (“CrPC”).
Since, the matter concerned was under the ambit of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 (“Rules”), the applicant sought the permission of the Drugs Controller General of India as mandated under Rule 50 of the Rules, for challenging the impugned judgment, that was granted, and the Deputy Solicitor General of India was contacted, for the same. and had requested the applicant to share all the case-related documents, which when shared were found to be incomplete. Thereafter, due to the prolonged absence of the Deputy Solicitor General for personal reasons, there was a delay of 54 days by the applicant in filing an appeal against the impugned order.
The respondents contended the inapplicability of Section 5 of the Limitation Act to Section , as the latter provides that a grant of special leave to appeal from an order of acquittal shall be maintainable beyond six months only when the complainant is a public servant. However, since the complainant in the instant case was the Union of India (not a public servant), the applicable timeline to appeal would be 60 days only.
Court’s Analysis and Decision
The Court noted that the matter concerned in the instant application was not res integra, while referring to State (Delhi Administration) v. Dharampal (2001) 10 SCC 372. In this case, the Trial Court had dismissed an appeal against an acquittal for being barred by limitation due to delayed filing beyond 60 days. The Supreme Court had examined this ground in the appeals against the Trial Court’s judgment and held the contention to be untenable. The submission made before the Trial Court was that the appeal had not been filed by a ‘public servant’ and therefore the limitation for filing such an appeal was sixty days. The Supreme Court examined Section 417 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 as well as Section of the (“CrPC”). On such examination, and had held the following:
“Section 417 did not mandate the application for leave to appeal by the State or Central Government, however, Section required the Government applicants to obtain leave to appeal from High Court.
Therefore, Section 378 distinguishes an appeal filed by the Government (requiring only leave), from an appeal filed by a complainant (requiring special leave). The limitation provided for in Section 378(5) is only for special leave applications. Therefore, public servants can apply for special leave in six months, and private parties, in 60 days. However, Government appeals are governed by Article 114 (a) of the Limitation Act, mandating the application within 90 days from the date of order appealed from.
Section stipulates that the State Government cannot maintain an appeal if special leave to appeal is refused. Sub-section (3) provides that a State or Central Government appeal is inadmissible without leave of the High Court. However, Sub-section (5) has no application for leave under Sub-section (3). The legislature’s intention was to make an appeal by the Government unmaintainable if a complainant has been denied special leave to appeal”.
The Court took note of Mohd. Abaad Ali v. Directorate of Revenue Prosecution Intelligence, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 162, where the Supreme Court held that Section , does not contain any exclusionary power. The benefits of Section 5 read with Sections 2 and 3 of the Limitation Act are available in an appeal against acquittal.
Relying on the afore-stated precedents, the Court in the instant case negated the respondents’ contention of non-application of Section 5 of the Limitation Act.
Relying on Dharampal (supra), the Court was of the view that the period of six months or 60 days is not applicable to the appeals made by the State or Central Government which continues to be governed by Article 114(a) of the Limitation Act, and that their appeals must be filed within 90 days from the date of the order appealed from.
Should there be a delay in filing the appeal, the appellant Government is allowed to file an application for condonation for delay in filing, under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, and the period may be extended subject to the Court’s satisfaction as to a sufficient cause for delay.
Therefore, the Court stated that the applicant Government incorrectly sought the condonation of delay of 54 days being under the impression of having six months to file the appeal as per Section . Additionally, the respondents’ claim that the limitation period applicable to the applicants was of 60 days alone, was also found to be incorrect by the Court.
In the light of Article 114(a) of the Limitation Act, the Court examined whether the application of condonation satisfactorily was based on sufficient cause. The Court noted that the initial delay was because of the failure of conducting counsel to inform the applicant about the impugned judgment; thereafter, there was delay in seeking official permissions and directions to appeal, which, the Court noted was a usual practice when the Government is a litigant. The Court highlighted that despite the numerous previous judgments on the process of seeking permissions, directions and approvals, securing the same remains a tedious process.
The Court held that the applicant, owing to the exhaustive permissions and approvals, was prevented from approaching the Court within limitation. Therefore, the Court held that the applicant was successful in showing sufficient cause to condone the delay.
[Union of India v. Mukul Enterprises, IA No. 01 of 2023 , decided on 22-05-2024]
*Judgment by: Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocates for the Applicant: Sangita Pradhan, Deputy Solicitor General of India with Purnima Subba and Natasha Pradhan
Advocate for the Respondents: Sudesh Joshi
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