Article 132: (Art. 153 of the Act of 1908):
The period of limitation for an application to the High Court for a certificate of fitness to appeal to the Supreme Court under clause (1) of Article 132, Art. 133 or sub-clause (c) of clause (I) of Article 134 of the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force is sixty days and the limitation commences from the date of the decree, order or sentence.
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According to clause (1) of Article 132 of the Constitution of India, “An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from any judgment, decree or final order of a High Court in the territory of India, whether in a civil, criminal or other proceeding, if the High Court certifies under Article 134 A that the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution.”
Article 133 of the Constitution of India provides that “(1) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from any judgment, decree or final order in a civil proceeding of a High Court in the territory of India if the High Court certifies under Article 134 A—
(a) That the case involves a substantial question of law of general importance; and
(b) That in the opinion of the High Court the said question needs to be decided by the Supreme Court.
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(2) Notwithstanding anything in Article 132, any party appealing to the Supreme Court under clause (1) may urge as one of the grounds in such appeal that a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution has been wrongly decided.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in this Article, no appeal shall, unless Parliament by law otherwise provides, lie to the Supreme Court from the judgment, decree or final order of one Judge of a High Court.
As per sub-clause (c) of clause (1) of Article 134 of the Constitution of India, an appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from any judgment, final order or sentence in a criminal proceeding of a High Court in the territory of India if the High Court certifies under Article 134 A that the case is a fit one for appeal to the Supreme Court. However, an appeal under sub-clause (c) shall lie subject to such provisions as may be made in that behalf under clause (1) of Article 145 and to such conditions as the High Court may establish or require.
Article 134 A of the Constitution states that every High Court passing or making a judgment, decree, final order, or sentence, referred to in clause (1) of Article 132 or clause (1) of Article 133, or clause (1) of Article 134,—
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(a) May, if it deems fit so to do, as its own motion; and
(b) Shall, if an oral application is made, by or on behalf of the party
Aggrieved, immediately after the passing or making of such judgment, decree, final order or sentence determine, as soon as may be after such passing or making, the question whether a certificate of the nature referred to in clause (1) of Article 132, or clause (1) of Article 133 or, as the case may be, sub-section (c) of clause (1) of Article 134, may be given in respect of that case.
The expression “certificate of fitness” includes all other kinds of certificate mentioned in Articles 132 and 133 of the Constitution.
Order XLV of Code of Civil Procedure also provides for procedure to be adopted for any appeal to the Supreme Court. The application has to be filed to the Court whose decree is complained of and such petition shall state the grounds of appeal and pray for a certificate that the case involves a substantial question of law of general importance and in the opinion of the said Court the said question needs to be decided by the Supreme Court. Any application for such certificate would naturally have to be filed in High Court because the appeal to the Supreme Court has to be made in the matter of decree or order of the High Court.
Any person applying to High Court for such certificate of fitness to appeal has to apply within 60 days of the date of decree, order or sentence. The date of decree is the date of judgment since under Order XX Rule 7 of the Civil Procedure Code decree shall bear the date on which the judgment is pronounced. In case of review the date of decree will be the date on which the new decree is drawn up after the review if the review is allowed, otherwise not.
Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 attracts the Art. 132 of the Limitation Act and the Court have discretion to enlarge the time for sufficient cause.