TAPEN SEN, J. - (1.) IN all these appeals which have been filed under the proviso appended to section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a point pertaining to limitation has attained significance. An amendment was sought to be brought by the legislature Vide Act 5 of 2009 with effect from 31.12.2009 inserting a proviso to section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to for the sake of brevity as the Code) conferring therein a right upon the "victim" to prefer an appeal "against any Order passed by the Court acquitting the accused or convicting for a lesser offence or imposing inadequate compensation" with a rider that "such an appeal shall lie to the Court to which an appeal ordinarily lies against the Order of conviction of such Court".
(2.) THE provisions of section 372 (as it now stands after the amendment) reads as follows : "372. No appeal to lie unless otherwise provided. No appeal shall lie from any judgment or order of a Criminal Court except as provided for by this Code or by any other law for the time being in force: [Provided that the victim shall have a right to prefer an appeal against any order passed by the Court acquitting the accused or convicting for a lesser offence or imposing inadequate compensation, and such appeal shall lie to the Court to which an appeal ordinarily lies against the order of conviction of such Court.]" The right to prefer an appeal in case of acquittal was already provided for by the legislature under the provisions of section 378 of the Code subject to section 378(5) thereof but, the same pertained/pertains to cases arising out of a Complaint. Under the provisions of that section, the period of limitation has been prescribed under section 378(5) of the Code read with Article 114 of the Limitation Act 1963. Before we proceed further, we would like to observe that it is high time that the legislature should find some time to amend the Limitation Act, 1963 itself because Article 114 is so archaic that even today, it refers to the new provisions of section 378 of the Code as section 417 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
(3.) FOR the convenience of parties, the provisions of section 378 of the Code and the provisions of Article 114 of the Limitation Act are quoted below : "378. Appeal is case of acquittal (1) Save as otherwise provided in sub section (2), and subject to the provisions of sub sections (3) and (5), (a) the District Magistrate may, in any case, direct the Public Prosecutor to present an appeal to the Court of Session from an order of acquittal passed by a Magistrate in respect of a cognizable and nonbailable offence; (b) the State Government may, in any case, direct the Public Prosecutor to present an appeal to the High Court from an original or appellate order of an acquittal passed by any Court other than a High Court [not being an order under clause (a)] or an order of acquittal passed by Court of Session in revision.] (2) If such an order of acquittal is passed in any case in which the offence has been investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment constituted under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (25 of 1946) or by any other agency empowered to make investigation into an offence under any Central Act other than this Code, [the Central Government may, subject to the provisions of sub section (3), also direct the Public Prosecutor to present an appeal (a) to the Court of Session, from an order of acquittal passed by a Magistrate in respect of a cognizable and non bailable offence; (b) to the High Court from an original or appellate order of an acquittal passed by any Court other than a High Court [not being an order under clause (a)] or an order of acquittal passed by the Court of Session in revision.] (3) [No appeal to the High Court] under sub section (1) or sub section 2) shall be entertained except with the leave of the High Court. (4) If such an order of acquittal is passed in any case instituted upon complaint and the High Court, on an application made to it by the complainant in this behalf, grants special leave to appeal from the order of acquittal, the complainant may present such an appeal to the High Court. (5) No application under sub section (4) for the grant of special leave to appeal from an order of acquittal shall be entertained by the High Court after the expiry of six months, where the complainant is a public servant, and sixty days in every other case, computed from the date of that order of acquittal. (6) If, in any case, the application under sub section (4) for the grant of special leave to appeal from an order of acquittal is refused, no appeal from that order of acquittal shall lie under sub section (1) or under sub section (2)." JUDGEMENT_704_CALHN3_2013.jpg;