Raghunath Laxman Makadwada vs State Of Maharashtra

2. The Bombay High Court has done it again. A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court consisting of Desai and Kotwal, JJ has once again dismissed in limine a Criminal Appeal against a conviction for murder and sentence of imprisonment for life with a single word order:

dismissed. Not once but a dozen times and every time in an appeal from the Bombay High Court, this Court had occasion to point out the impropriety of such summary rejection of an appeal without a speaking order. Again and again the Bombay High Court persists in dismissing Criminal appeals in limine without speaking orders. In Shivaji Narayan Bachhav v. State of Maharashtra we had referred to several of the earlier cases and stated:

The appeal of the accused of the High Court was dismissed summarily with the one word 'dismissed', placing this Court in a most embarrassing position in dealing with the special leave petition under Article 136 of the Constitution. Such summary rejection of appeals by the High Court has been disapproved by this Court more than thirty years ago in Mushtak Hussein v. State of Bombay, and thereafter, over the years, in a series of cases from the same High Court: Shreekantiah Ramayya Munipalli v. State of Bombay, Vishwanath Shankar Beldar v. State of Maharashtra, Siddanna Apparao Patil v. State of Maharashtra, Narayan Nathu Naik v. State of Maharashtra, Govinda Kadtuji Kadam v. State of Maharashtra, Shaikh Mohd. Ali v. State of Maharashtra, Kapurchand Kesrimal Jain v. State of Maharashtra, Jeewan Prakash v. State of Maharashtra, Mushtaq Ahmed v. State of Gujarat, Krishna Vithu Suroshe v. State of Maharashtra, Sampata Tatyada Shinde v. State of Maharashtra, Dagady v. State of Maharashtra. We are pained, and not a little perturbed, that despite the long series of judgments all arising from cases from the same High Court has not chosen to correct itself and continues in the error of its ways. Except in certain case when an accused person has pleaded guilty and in petty cases, every person convicted of an offence has a right of appeal under the Criminal Procedure Code. An appeal may be both against conviction and sentence and on facts and law. A convicted person is entitled to ask an appellate court to reappraise the evidence and come to its own conclusion. An appellate court has the undoubted power to dismiss an appeal in limine. Section 384 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides for it. But, it is a power which must be exercised sparingly and with great circumspection. One would think a conviction for murder and a sentence of imprisonment for life, as in the case before us, were serious enough matters for the High Court to warrant 'admission' of the appeal and fair and independent consideration of the evidence by the High Court. Summary rejection of the appeal with the laconic expression 'dismissed' seems to be a drastic step in such cases. To so reject an appeal is to practically deny the right of appeal. We cannot also overemphasize the importance of the High Court making a speaking order when dismissing a criminal appeal in limine. "The requirement of recording reasons for summary dismissal, however concise, serves to ensure proper functioning of the judicial process." There must be some indication that the High Court addressed itself to the questions at issue and had the record before it. In the present case there is not even an indication whether the record had been called for and whether it was before the Court. We have little option but to set aside the order of the High Court. The High Court may now 'admit' the appeal and deal with it according to law.

3. More than any other authority in the land, we expect the High Court to regard the pronouncements of this Court with respect and to abide by them. We have said enough to reiterate what we have always said before and we sincerely hope that it won't be necessary for us to say so again.

4. We wish to add that whenever a further right to question the judgment of a court or tribunal is provided by the Constitution or statute, the court or tribunal should make a speaking order when finally adjudicating the case. We notice that writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution are often dismissed by the High Courts without a speaking order thus virtually compelling the Supreme Court to re-hear the matter in a petition under Article 136 of the Constitution. If a speaking order, however brief, is made, it will be most helpful to this Court in dealing with applications under Article 136 of the Constitution.

5. The order of the High Court is set aside and the appeal is remanded to the High Court for fresh disposal. The High Court may now admit the appeal and deal with it according to law.