Mandatory surrender requirement bars registration of a criminal appeal by a sentenced appellant absent express exemption.

A criminal appeal by a sentenced appellant could not be registered or heard in the Supreme Court unless the appellant had surrendered or obtained an express order exempting surrender. The Supreme Court Rules were treated as mandatory, and the appeal petition had to disclose surrender status before registration. The Special Court Act's power for the Special Court to regulate its own procedure did not extend to overriding the Supreme Court's appellate procedure. Earlier orders made without addressing the mandatory surrender requirement were treated as per incuriam and given no precedential value. The request to proceed without surrender was rejected.

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Issues: Whether an appellant convicted and sentenced to imprisonment could have a criminal appeal posted for hearing without first surrendering, and whether the special procedural power under the Special Court Act displaced the requirement under the Supreme Court Rules.

Analysis: Order XXI Rule 13A of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966 required the petition of appeal to state whether the appellant had surrendered, and mandated that an appeal by a sentenced appellant shall not be registered unless the Court orders otherwise on a written application. The provision was treated as mandatory, subject only to an express order exempting surrender. Section 9(4) of the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transaction in Securities) Act, 1992 empowered the Special Court to regulate its own procedure, but that did not extend to controlling the procedure of the Supreme Court. The Court further held that earlier orders extending protection without reference to the mandatory rule could not govern the present matter, as decisions rendered without notice of a statutory bar lack precedential value and are to be treated as per incuriam. The appeal was therefore not entertainable unless proof of surrender was filed.

Conclusion: The requirement of surrender before the criminal appeal could be posted was upheld, and the request to proceed without surrender was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: A criminal appeal by a sentenced appellant cannot be registered or heard in the Supreme Court unless the appellant has surrendered, or has obtained an express order exempting surrender, and a special court's power to regulate its own procedure cannot override the Supreme Court Rules governing appellate procedure.

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