INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anuradha Mukherjee, Omar Ahmad, Vikram Shah and Soumya Dasgupta, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
• 30 days for an appeal from the High Court (Single Judge Bench) to the same court (Division Bench). However, courts have discretion to condone a delay in filing if a party shows sufficient cause for its failure to file the appeal within the prescribed time period. 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal First Appeal For a first appeal, the court can consider issues of both fact and law. The court can consider whether there is an error of law or fact in the lower court judg- ment or whether the judgment of the lower court suf- fers from any procedural irregularities, including viola- tion of the principles of natural justice. Second Appeal In the case of a second appeal (ie, against an appel- late decree), the High Court has to consider and be satisfied whether the case involves a substantial ques- tion of law. The High Court will also have to determine whether there is any issue that has not been deter - mined or that has been wrongly determined by the lower appellate court. Moreover, the CPC permits the production of addi- tional evidence at the appellate stage under certain circumstances, such as: • the court from whose decree the appeal is pre- ferred has refused to admit evidence that ought to have been admitted; • the party seeking to produce additional evidence establishes that, notwithstanding the exercise of due diligence, such evidence was not within its knowledge or could not, after the exercise of due diligence, be produced by it at the time when the decree appealed against was passed; • the appellate court requires any document to be produced or any witness to be examined to enable it to pronounce judgment; or • for any other substantial cause. Furthermore, the appellate court has to see whether the court whose decree is in appeal has omitted to frame or try issues that in the appellate court’s opinion are essential for arriving at the decision; the appellate
court may then frame the issue and refer it to trial to the court whose decree is in appeal. 10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal The court may impose certain conditions before con- sidering an appeal. For instance, the court may require the appellant to deposit the entire sum involved before the appeal is even heard by the appellate court. The mere filing of the appeal does not by itself result in a stay of the operation of the challenged decree. A separate application seeking a stay of the impugned decree has to be made; the appellate court may stay the operation of the decree, subject to conditions, upon sufficient cause being shown that substan- tial loss may be caused to the appellant unless the impugned decree is stayed. In the case of arbitral awards, there is no prerequi- site for the awarded amount to be deposited in order to file an application seeking to set aside an arbitral award. However, if an application is filed for a stay of the operation of the award, the court may grant such a stay for reasons to be recorded in writing, subject to such conditions as it may deem fit. 10.6 Powers of the Appellate Court After an Appeal Hearing The appellate court has the power to: • decide and determine a case by setting aside or upholding the judgment; • remand the case back to the lower court; • frame issues and refer them for trial; or • take additional evidence or require additional evi- dence to be taken. If the appellate court decides and determines the case, it may confirm, vary or reverse the decree against which the appeal is referred. Regarding arbitral awards, please see 13.3 Circum- stances to Challenge an Arbitral Award .
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