Power of Court of Appeal
Full Text
The Appellate Court shall have power to pass any decree and make any order which ought to have been passed or made and to pass or make such further or other decree or order as the case may require, and this power may be exercised by the Court notwithstanding that the appeal is as to part only of the decree and may be exercised in favour of all or any of the respondents or parties, although such respondents or parties may not have filed any appeal or objection and may, where there have been decrees in cross-suits or where two or more decrees are passed in one suit, be exercised in respect of all or any of the decrees, although an appeal may not have been filed against such decrees:
Provided that the Appellate Court shall not make any order under section 35A in pursuance of any objection on which the Court from whose decree the appeal is preferred has omitted or refused to make such order.
Illustration: A claims a sum of money as due to him from X or Y, and in a suit against both obtains a decree against X. X appeals and A and Y are respondents. The Appellate Court decides in favour of X. It has power to pass a decree against Y.
Plain English Summary
Confers extraordinary equitable power upon the appellate court to pass any decree or order that ought to have been passed and grant relief to non-appealing parties or across cross-decrees to do complete justice, subject to established judicial restraints.
Key Legal Elements
- Extraordinary Equitable Jurisdiction: Designed to enable the appellate court to do complete and substantial justice between parties.
- Relief to Non-Appealing Parties: Can grant relief in favour of respondents or co-parties who never appealed or filed cross-objections.
- Cross-Suits and Multiple Decrees: Extends across decrees in cross-suits or multiple decrees in a consolidated suit.
- Statutory Proviso on Section 35A: Cannot award compensatory costs under Section 35A if trial court omitted/refused to do so.
- Subject to Judicial Self-Restraint: Cannot be exercised arbitrarily to circumvent limitation or defeat statutory rights.
Practical Note
Scope and Limits of the Landmark Rule 33 Power: 1. Purpose — Complete Justice: In Panna Lal v. State of Bombay (AIR 1963 SC 1516) and Nirmal Bala Ghose v. Balai Chand Ghose (AIR 1965 SC 1874), the Supreme Court held that the object of Rule 33 is to empower the appellate court to do complete justice between the parties. Where as a result of interference in favour of the appellant, further consequential orders become necessary in order to adjust the rights of the parties or prevent conflicting adjudications, Rule 33 comes into play. 2. Strict Judicial Restraint (The Banarsi Principles): In Banarsi v. Ram Phal (2003) 9 SCC 606, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that Rule 33 is an exceptional power and cannot be exercised as a matter of course. It cannot be used to confer a relief on a party who deliberately chose not to appeal or file cross-objections when that relief is independent and separable from the relief claimed by the appellant. Rule 33 is attracted only where the decree is indivisible or where reversing the decree against the appellant necessitates modifying the decree against other parties to prevent a total miscarriage of justice (K.S. Paripoornan v. State of Kerala, 1994 5 SCC 593).
हिंदी पाठ
अपीलीय न्यायालय को ऐसी कोई डिक्री पारित करने और ऐसा कोई आदेश करने की शक्ति होगी जो पारित किया जाना या किया जाना चाहिए था तथा ऐसी अतिरिक्त या अन्य डिक्री पारित करने अथवा आदेश करने की शक्ति होगी जैसा मामले में अपेक्षित हो, और इस शक्ति का प्रयोग न्यायालय द्वारा इस बात के होते हुए भी किया जा सकेगा कि अपील डिक्री के केवल भाग के ही विरुद्ध है और इसका प्रयोग सभी या किन्हीं प्रत्यर्थियों या पक्षकारों के पक्ष में किया जा सकेगा, यद्यपि ऐसे प्रत्यर्थियों या पक्षकारों ने कोई अपील या आक्षेप फाइल न किया हो तथा जहां पारस्परिक वादों (Cross-suits) में डिक्रियां हुई हैं अथवा जहां एक ही वाद में दो या अधिक डिक्रियां पारित की गई हैं, वहां सभी या किन्हीं डिक्रियों के संबंध में इसका प्रयोग किया जा सकेगा, भले ही ऐसी डिक्रियों के विरुद्ध अपील फाइल न की गई हो:
परंतु अपीलीय न्यायालय किसी ऐसे आक्षेप के अनुसरण में जिस पर उस न्यायालय ने जिसकी डिक्री के विरुद्ध अपील की गई है ऐसा आदेश करने का लोप किया था या इंकार किया था, धारा 35क के अधीन कोई आदेश नहीं करेगा।
दृष्टांत: क अपने को ख या ग से कुछ धन शोध्य होने का दावा करता है और दोनों के विरुद्ध वाद में ख के विरुद्ध डिक्री प्राप्त करता है। ख अपील करता है और क तथा ग प्रत्यर्थी हैं। अपीलीय न्यायालय ख के पक्ष में निर्णय करता है। उसे ग के विरुद्ध डिक्री पारित करने की शक्ति है।