Right of appeal and

revision under
Criminal Procedure
 Sukumar Ray
Principal Secretary
West Bengal Legislative Assembly
 “
Right to Appeal must be
given by statute. No appeal
lies from any judgment or
order of a criminal court
unless and until it is
provided in the law.
Appeal by victim
The victim is entitled to prefer an appeal against the
orders which are passed by any criminal court
acquitting the accused or convicting him for a lesser
offence or imposing inadequate compensation.
He/she can file the appeal against the following
orders
(i) any order passed by a Court acquitting the
accused;
Appeal by victim
(ii) any order passed by a Court where the accused is
convicted of a lesser offence but the victim feels
that he should have been convicted for a higher
offence. Obviously the appeal lies against the
acquittal of the accused for a higher offence;
(iii) an appeal lies where the victim is not satisfied by
the quantum of compensation awarded.

Mallikarjun Kodagali v. State of Karnataka 2019 CrLJ 532 (SC)

Appeal against convictions
◈ Any person convicted on a trial held by a High Court in its
extraordinary original criminal jurisdiction may appeal to
the Supreme Court.
◈ Any person convicted on a trial held by a Sessions Judge or
an Additional Sessions Judge or on a trial held by any other
Court in which a sentence of imprisonment for more than
seven years has been passed against him or against any other
person convicted at the same trial may appeal to the High
Court.
Time limit of disposal of appeal
◈ When an appeal has been filed against a
sentence passed under section 376, section
376 A, section 376 AB, section 376 B,
section 376 C, section 376 D, section 376
DA, section 376 DB or section 376E of the
Indian Penal Code, the appeal must be
disposed of within a period of six months from
the date of filing of such appeal.
No appeal in certain cases when accused pleads guilty
Where an accused person has pleaded guilty and has
been convicted on such plea, there shall be no appeal.
◈ (a) if the conviction is by a High Court; or
◈ (b) if the conviction is by a Court of Session,
Metropolitan Magistrate or Magistrate of the first
or second class, except as to the extent or legality
of the sentence.
Forum

Name of the court by which Name of

the accused is convicted appellate
court
1. Where the accused has been ordered under may appeal against order
section 117 to give security for keeping the to the court of session
peace or for good behaviour or who is aggrieved [section 373]
by any order refusing to accept or rejecting a
security under section 121, that
Forum

Name of the court by Name of

which the accused is appellate court
convicted
2. Any person convicted on a trial may appeal to the
held by a High Court in its Supreme Court
extraordinary original criminal [section 374(1)].
jurisdiction
Forum

Name of the court by which Name of

the accused is convicted appellate
court
3. When the accused is convicted by to the High Court
sessions judge or an additional [section 374(2)]
sessions judge he may appeal
Forum

Name of the court by which Name of

the accused is convicted appellate
court
4. When a court pass a sentence of To the High Court
imprisonment for more than seven [section 374(2)]
years the accused may appeal
Forum

Name of the court by which Name of

the accused is convicted appellate
court
5. Any person convicted by a metropolitan The court of
magistrate or assistant sessions judge or session [section
magistrate of the first class, or of the 374(3)]
second class may appeal to
Forum

Name of the court by Name of

which the accused is appellate court
convicted
6. Where the accused is sentenced To the Court of session
under section 325 an appeal can [Section 374(3)(b)]
be filed
Forum

Name of the court by Name of

which the accused is appellate court
convicted
7. Where a sentence has been passed To the Court of
under section 360 by any session [Section
magistrate, the accused may prefer 374(3)(c)]
an appeal
Forum

Name of the court Name of appellate

by which the court
accused is convicted
8. In case of conviction on a trial To the High Court [Section 366(1)]
held by any court other than a
High Court the State Government
may present an appeal against the
sentence on the ground of its
inadequacy
Forum

Name of the court Name of appellate

by which the court
accused is convicted
9. Where the High has, on appeal, To the Supreme Court [Section 379]
reversed an order of acquittal of an
accused person and convicted and
sentenced him to death or
imprisonment for a term of ten
years or more, he may appeal
Order of acquittal : guidelines---
The following principles regarding power of appellate court to
hear an appeal against order of acquittal are----
(1) The appellate court may review the evidence in appeals
against acquittal under Sections 378 and 386 of the Criminal
Procedure Code, 1973. Its power of reviewing evidence is wide
and the appellate court can reappreciate the entire evidence on
record. It can review the trial court s conclusion with respect to
both facts and law.
Order of acquittal : guidelines---
(2) The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The
accused possessed this presumption when he was before the trial
court. The trial court s acquittal bolsters the presumption that he
is innocent.
Order of acquittal : guidelines---
(3) Due or proper weight and consideration must be given to the
trial court s decision. This is especially true when a witness
credibility is at issue. It is not enough for the High Court to take
a different view of the evidence. There must also be substantial
and compelling reasons for holding that trial court was wrong.
Therefore, the High Court and other appellate courts should
follow the well settled principles crystallized by number of
judgments if it is going to overrule or otherwise disturb the trial
court 's acquittal 1 :

1. Ghurey Lal V State of U.P (2008) 10 SCC 450:(2009) 1 SCC (Cri) 60:AIR 2009
SC(Supp) 1318: 2008 (3) Crimes(SC) 685:2008 (10) Scale 616: 2008 AIR SCW
6598:2008 (5) Supreme 682: 2008 (10) JT 324:2008 (3) GujLH 715: 2008 (4) KerLT
17: 2008 (4) CivCC 49:2008 AllMR(Cri) 2873:2008 (2) UJ 991: 2009 (1) CriCC 644:
2008 (2) ALD(Cri) 605: 2009 (1) ApexCJ
(1) The appellate court may only overrule or otherwise disturb
the trial court s acquittal if it has "very substantial and
compelling reasons" for doing so. A number of instances arise in
which the appellate court would have "very substantial and
compelling reasons" to discard the trial court s decision. "Very
substantial and compelling reasons" exist when:
i) The trial court s conclusion with regard to the facts is palpably
wrong;
ii) The trial court s decision was based on an erroneous view of
law;
iii) The trial court s judgment is likely to result in "grave
miscarriage of justice";
iv) The entire approach of the trial court in dealing with the
evidence was patently illegal;
v) The trial court s judgment was manifestly unjust and
unreasonable;
vi) The trial court has ignored the evidence or misread the
material evidence or has ignored material documents like dying
declarations/ report of the Ballistic expert, etc.
(2) The Appellate Court must always give proper weight and
consideration to the findings of the trial court.
(3) If two reasonable views can be reached - one that leads to
acquittal, the other to conviction - the High Courts/appellate
courts must rule in favour of the accused.
Procedure---
The following procedure to be followed in respect' of jail
petitions:
(i) jail pentitions /appeals duly typed in English in proper form
alongwith copy of judgement/order and other relevant
documents, if any, with English translation of vernacular
documents should be sent through the officer-in-charge, Central
Jail, Tihar and the same shall be accepted at the Filing Counter
of the Registry of this Court.
Procedure---
(iii) Criminal appeals/jail petitions so filed shall be accepted by the
filing counter of the Registry and give the filing number to the official
filing such appeals/petitions.
Procedure---
(iv) The criminal appeals/jail petitions which are required to be
heard by the Division Bench shall be filed in duplicate, each set
duly signed by the appellant/petitioner.

366:2008 (4) LawHerald(SC) 2817:2009 (1) MhLJ(Cri) 6:2009 (1) CalCriLR 193
Procedure---
(v) Copy of the appeal/jail petition shall be served in advance on
the respondent/State and also on the nominated counsel to the
Legal Services Authority who is required to appear in the matter
who shall file his memo of appearance.
Procedure---
(vi) The criminal appeals/jail petitions shall be scrutinised by the
Registry and if any objection is found the same be permittted to
be removed by the nominated counsel of the Legal Services
Authority.
Procedure---
(vii) The criminal appeal/jail petition shall thereafter be listed
before the concerned court showing the name of advocate
appearing on behalf of the legal Services Authority in such jail
petitions/appeals.

Additional D.G Cum I.G V Union of India 2002 CrLJ 2127 ( Del)
Principles--
The principles regarding disposal of appeal against acquittal can
be summed as under---

(1) an appellate court has full power to review the evidence

upon which the order of acquittal is founded;
Principles---
(2) the High Court has no power or jurisdiction to reverse
an order of acquittal on a matter of fact, except in cases in which
the lower Court has "obstinately blundered," or has "through
incompetence, stupidity or perversity" reached such "distorted
conclusions as to produce a positive miscarriage of justice," or
has in some other way so conducted itself as to produce a
glaring miscarriage of justice, or has been tricked by the defence
so as to produce a similar result;
Principles---
(3) the different phraseology used in the judgments of this Court,
such as,
(i) "substantial and compelling reasons",
(ii) "good and sufficiently cogent reasons", and
(iii) "strong reasons", are not intended to curtail the undoubted power of an
appellate court in an appeal against acquittal to review the entire evidence
and to come to its own conclusion; but in doing so it should not only
consider every matter on record having a bearing on the questions of fact
and the reasons given by the court below in support of its order of acquittal
is its arriving at a conclusion on those reasons in its judgement, which lesd
it to hold that the acquittal was not justified.
Principles---
(4) The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts no
limitation, restriction or condition on exercise of such power and
an appellate Court on the evidence before it may reach its own
conclusion, both on questions of fact and of law;
Principles---
(5) Various expressions, such as, 'substantial and
compelling reasons', 'good and sufficient grounds', 'very strong
circumstances', 'distorted conclusions', 'glaring mistakes', etc.
are not intended to curtail extensive powers of an appellate
Court in an appeal against acquittal. Such phraseologies are
more in the nature of 'flourishes of language' to emphasize the
reluctance of an appellate Court to interfere with acquittal than
to curtail the power of the Court to review the evidence and to
come to its own conclusion.
Principles---
(6) An appellate Court, however, must bear in mind that in
case of acquittal, there is double presumption in favour of the
accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence available to him
under the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that
every person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is
proved guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly, the
accused having secured his acquittal, the presumption of his
innocence is further reinforced, reaffirmed and strengthened by
the trial court.
Principles---
(7) If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis
of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb
the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.

Chandrappa V State of Karnataka 2007 CrLJ 2136(SC)

Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

No appeal to lie unless Section 372 Section 413

otherwise provided
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Appeal from orders Section 373 Section 414

requiring security or refusal
to accept or rejecting surety
for keeping peace or good
behaviour
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Appeals from convictions Section 374 Section 415

Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

No appeal in certain cases Section 375 Section 416

when accused pleads guilty
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

NO appeal in petty cases Section 376 Section 417

Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Appeal by the State Section 377 Section 418

Government against sentence
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Appeal in case of acquittal Section 378 Section 419

Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Appeal against conviction Section 379 Section 420

by High Court in certain
cases
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Special right of appeal in Section 380 Section 421

certain cases
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Appeal to Court of Session Section 381 Section 422

how heard
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Petition of appeal Section 382 Section 423

Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Procedure when appellant in Section 383 Section 424

jail
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Summary dismissal of Section 384 Section 425

appeal
Code of Criminal Procedure VS BNSS

Heading Code of Criminal Bharatiya Nagarik

Procedure Suraksha Sanhita

Procedure for hearing Section 385 Section 426

appeals not dismissed
summarily
Revision
No revision against interlocutory order.

Object---The Object of the revisional jurisdiction is to confer power

upon superior criminal courts—a kind of paternal or supervisory
jurisdiction—in order to correct miscarriage of justice arising from
misconception of law, irregularity of procedure, neglect of proper
precaution or apparent harshness of treatment which has resulted on
the one hand, or on the other hand in some hardship to individuals.
Revision
Revisional jurisdiction can be exercised by the High Court at the
instance of a private complainant in the following cases----
(1) where the trial court has wrongly shut out evidence which
the prosecution wished to produce;
(2) where the admissible evidence is wrongly brushed aside as
inadmissible;
Revision
(3) where the trial court has no jurisdiction to try the case and
has still acquitted the accused;
(4) where the material evidence has been overlooked either by
the trial court or the appellate court or the order is passed by
considering irrelevant evidence; and
(5) where the acquittal is based on the compounding of the
offence which is invalid under the law.

Sheetala Prasad v Sri Kant (2010)2 SCC 190 : 2010 Cr LJ 1404(SC)

Power of High Court
(i) reverse the finding and sentence;
(ii) acquit or discharge the accused;
(iii) order for retrial or committal for trial;
(iv) after the finding maintaining the
sentence;
(v) alter or reverse the order;
Power of High Court
(vi) enhancement of sentence;
(vii) any amendment or any consequential or
incidental order that may be just or proper.
(viii) suspension of sentence pending the appeal;
(ix) release of appellant on bail;
(x) arrest of accused in appeal from acquittal;
(xi) take further evidence or direct it to be taken;
Thanks!