Order XXII - Special Leave Petitions in Criminal Proceedings

Rule 1: Limitation for criminal SLPs

1. (1) Where leave to appeal to the Court was refused in a case by the High Court, a petition for special leave to appeal shall, subject to the provisions of sections 4, 5, 12 and 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (36 of 1963), be lodged in the Court within sixty days from the date of order of refusal and in any other case not involving sentence of death, within ninety days from the date of Judgment or order sought to be appealed from and in a case involving sentence of death within sixty days from the date of Judgment or order sought to be appealed from:

Provided that where an application for leave to appeal to the High Court from the Judgment of a Single Judge of that Court has been made and refused, in computing the period of limitation in that case under this rule, the period from the making of that application and the rejection thereof shall also be excluded.

Explanation.- For purposes of this rule, the expression 'order of refusal' means an order refusing to grant the certificate under article 134A of the Constitution, being a certificate of the nature referred to in article 132 or article 134, as the case may be, of the Constitution on merits and shall not include an order rejecting the application on the ground of limitation or on the ground that such an application is not maintainable.

(2) Where the period of limitation is claimed from the date of refusal of a certificate, it shall not be necessary to file the order refusing a certificate, but the petition for special leave shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating the date of the Judgment sought to be appealed from, the date on which the application for a certificate was made to the High Court, the date of the order refusing the certificate and the ground or grounds on which the certificate was refused and in particular whether the application for a certificate was dismissed as being out of time.

Rule 2: Disclosure of earlier petitions and record limits

2. (1) The provisions contained in Rule 3(1) of Order XXI, shall with necessary modifications and adaptations, be applicable to these petitions seeking special leave.

(2) No petition shall be entertained by the Registry unless it contains a statement as to whether the petitioner had filed any petition for special leave to appeal against the impugned Judgment or order earlier, and if so, with what result, duly supported by an affidavit of the petitioner or his pairokar only.

(3) The Court shall, if it finds that the petitioner has not disclosed the fact of filing a similar petition earlier and its dismissal by this Court, dismiss the second petition if it is pending or if special leave has already been granted therein, revoke the same.

(4) SLPs shall be confined only to the pleadings before the Court / tribunal whose order is challenged and the other documents relied upon in those proceedings. No additional facts, documents or grounds shall be stated or relied upon without express prior permission of the Court obtained on an application made for this purpose.

Rule 3: Certified judgment and supporting affidavit

3. The petition shall be accompanied by-

(1) a certified copy of the Judgment or order appealed from; and

(2) an affidavit in support of the statement of facts contained in the petition.

Rule 4: Annexures and copies

4. No annexures to the petition shall be accepted unless such annexures arc certified copies of documents which have formed part of the record in the Court or Tribunal sought to be appealed from provided that uncertified copies of documents may be accepted as annexures if such copies are affirmed to be true copies upon affidavit.

Rule 5: Surrender and exemption from surrender

5. Where the petitioner has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the petition of appeal shall state whether the petitioner has surrendered and if he has surrendered then the petitioner shall, by way of proof of such surrender, file the certified copy of the order of the Court in which he has surrendered or a certificate of the competent officer of the Jail in which he is undergoing the sentence. A mere attestation of the signatures on the Vakalatnama from the jail authorities shall not be considered as sufficient proof of surrender. Where the petitioner has not surrendered to the sentence, the petition of appeal shall not be accepted by the Registry unless it is accompanied by an application for seeking exemption from surrendering. Where the petition of appeal is accompanied by an application for exemption from surrendering, that application alone shall be posted for hearing/orders before the Court in the first instance.

Rule 6: Respondent objections

6. The Respondent shall be at liberty to file his objections within 30 days from the date of receipt of notice or not later than 2 weeks before the date appointed for hearing, whichever be earlier.

Rule 7: Petitions by prisoners and legal assistance

7 (1) If the petitioner is in Jail and is not represented by an advocate-on-record, he may present his petition for special leave to appeal together with the certified copy of the Judgment and any written argument which he may desire to advance to the officer-in charge of the jail, who shall forthwith forward the same to the Registrar of this Court. Upon receipt of the said petition, the Registrar of the Court shall, whenever necessary call, from the proper officer of the Court or the Tribunal appealed from, the relevant documents for determination of the petition for special leave to appeal.

(2) As soon as all necessary documents are available the Registrar shall direct engagement of an Advocate from the panel of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, or assign a Panel Advocate at the cost of the state and thereafter place the petition and complete documents for hearing before the Court. The fee of the advocate so engaged shall be such, as may, from time to time, be fixed by the Chief Justice.

(3) After the hearing of the petition or the appeal, as the case may be, is over, the Registrar, the Additional Registrar or the Deputy Registrar shall issue to the Advocate, engaged at the cost of the State, a certificate in the prescribed form indicating therein the name of the said Advocate engaged at the cost of the State concerned and the amount of fees payable to the said advocate.

(4) The State concerned shall pay the fees specified in the certificate issued under sub-rule (3) to the Advocate named therein within three months from the date of his presenting before it his claim for the fees supported by the certificate. If the fees are not paid within the period above-said, the Advocate shall be entitled to recover the same from the State concerned by enforcement of the certificate as an order as to costs under the Supreme Court (Decrees and Orders) Enforcement Order, 1954.

Explanation. For the purposes of this rule, the term "State" shall include a Union Territory.

Rule 8: Conversion into criminal appeal

8. On the granting of the special leave, the petition for special leave shall be treated as the petition of appeal and shall be registered and numbered as such.

Rule 9: Short-hearing matters

9. While granting special leave, in all matters in which the Bench granting special leave is of the opinion that the matter is capable of being disposed of within a short time, say, within an hour or two, it will indicate accordingly. The office shall maintain a separate register of such matters to enable the Chief Justice to constitute a Bench for the disposal of such matters.

Rule 10: Communication of leave order

10. Upon an order being made granting special leave to appeal, the Registrar shall transmit to the Court appealed from, a certified copy of the order together with a certified copy of the petition for special leave, and the affidavit, if any, filed in support thereof.

Rule 11: Transmission of case records

11. On receipt of the said order, the Court appealed from shall give notice of the order to the respondent and require' the parties to take all necessary steps to have the record of the case transmitted to the Court in accordance with the directions contained in the order granting special leave. The Registrar of the Court appeal from shall certify to the Registrar of the Court that the respondent has received notice of the order of the Court granting special leave to appeal.

Rule 12: Armed Forces Tribunal matters

12. The provisions contained in this order shall apply to an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court under Section 31(2), second part, of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, with such modifications and adaptations as may be necessary.