Subba Rao, J. - (1.) This is an application for condoning the delay of 62 days in filing the petition for Special Leave to Appeal to this Court against the judgment of the High Court of Judicature for Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in Criminal Revision Case No. 681 of 1963. On April 14, 1964, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh delivered judgment in Criminal Revision Case No. 681 of 1963. On April 15, 1964, the petitioner filed an application in that Court for obtaining a certified copy of the Judgment. Stamps were called for on August 5, 1964, and they were deposited on August 6, 1964 and the copy was ready on August 12, 1964. The time taken by the Court for furnishing the copy to the Petitioner was about 110 days. The Petitioner filed an application in the said Court for leave to appeal to this Court. The said application was dismissed on September 14, 1964. Before the dismissal of the said application the petitioner obtained the copy of the judgment. Thereafter on January 14, 1965 the petitioners filed Special Leave Petition (Criminal No. 169 of 1965 in this Court for Special Leave to Appeal to this Court against the judgment of the High Court. As the time for preferring an appeal against the said order of the High Court to this Court is 60 days from the date of the order refusing to give leave to appeal, the petition for special leave is time barred by 52 days. Hence the present application for excusing the delay.
(2.) Mr. T. V. Sharma, learned counsel for the petitioner, raised before us two points, namely, (i) there was no delay at all in filing the petition for special leave as his client was entitled to exclude the time required for obtaining the copy of the judgment appealed from and that if the time be excluded, the present petition for special leave would be within time; and (ii) there is sufficient cause for excusing the delay.
(3.) At the outset it will be convenient to notice the relevant provisions of the Limitation Act and the Supreme Court Rules. Order XIII of the Supreme Court Rules prescribes a period of limitation for an appeal by special leave to this Court. Rule 1 thereof, before it was substituted by a new rule in 1964, read thus: "A petition for special leave to appeal shall be lodged in the Court within sixty days from the date of the refusal of a certificate by the High Court or within ninety days from the date of the judgment sought to be appealed from whichever is longer: Provided that- (i) in computing the period of ninety days the time requisite for obtaining a certified copy of the judgment sought to be appealed from shall be excluded; (ii) where the period of limitation claimed is sixty days from the date of the refusal of a certificate, the time taken subsequent to the date of refusal in obtaining a certified copy of the judgment (in cases where no certified copy of the judgment had been obtained prior to the date of such refusal) shall be excluded in computing the period of sixty days". Under this rule an appellant who sought to take advantage of the alternative period of limitation could not exclude in computing the period of limitation the time taken by him for obtaining the certified copy of the judgment before the order of refusal of leave to appeal. He could only exclude such time taken for obtaining a copy of the judgment after the said refusal if he had not already obtained the same before such refusal. The Limitation Act of 1963 came into force on January 1, 1964. Thereunder specific period is prescribed under Art. 133 for filing appeals to this Court by special leave. Under that article in a case where leave to appeal was refused by the High Court, the period of limitation is sixty days from the date of the order of refusal, and in any other case the period of limitation is ninety from the date of the judgment or order. While under the Supreme Court Rules, two different periods of limitation were prescribed for filing a petition for special leave to appeal to this Court - one of 60 days from the date of the refusal of leave to appeal by the High Court, and the other of 90 days from the date of judgment appealed from, whichever is longer - under Art. 133 of the Limitation Act, only one period of limitation is prescribed i.e. 60 days from the date of the order of refusal of leave to appeal by the High Court. By reason of Art. 145 of the Constitution of India, the statutory period of limitation prevails over the rule made by this Court. As the rule made by this Court was inconsistent with the statutory provision, that rule was deleted and a new rule was substituted to bring it in accord with the statutory provision. The substituted rule reads: "Subject to the provisions of Ss. 4, 5, 12 and 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (36 of 1963) a petition for Special Leave to Appeal shall be lodged in the Court in a case where a certificate for leave to appeal was refused by the High Court within sixty days from the date of the order of refusal and in any other case within ninety days from the date of the judgment or order sought to be appealed from" The rule is only in substance a reproduction of the relevant provisions of the Limitation Act pertaining to the period of limitation prescribed for an appeal by special leave. ;