Exception clauses limit general appeal powers: Central Government alone controls appeals in covered investigation cases.

Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives the State Government a general power to direct appeals from acquittal, but the exception in sub-section (2) excludes cases investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment or another agency authorised under a Central Act. In those covered cases, the Central Government alone is competent to direct the appeal. The Court held that the word "also" in sub-section (2) cannot override the express saving clause in sub-section (1), and the repealed 1898 Code could not control the materially different wording of the later provision.

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Issues: Whether, under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the State Government was competent to direct an appeal against acquittal in cases investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment or other agencies covered by sub-section (2).

Analysis: Section 378(1) confers a general power on the State Government to appeal from acquittal, but the opening words "save as otherwise provided in sub-section (2)" operate as an exception and exclude the class of cases covered by sub-section (2). The language of the provision, read as a whole, shows that in cases investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment or by another agency empowered to investigate under any Central Act other than the Code, the Central Government alone is the competent authority to direct an appeal. The word "also" in sub-section (2) cannot be used to defeat the express exception in sub-section (1), and the earlier construction placed on the repealed provision in Section 417 of the 1898 Code cannot override the materially different language of Section 378.

Conclusion: The State Government was not competent to file the appeal; the authority to direct appeal in the covered class of cases vested in the Central Government.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a later statute expressly qualifies a general appellate power by an exception clause, the exception must be given full effect, and the class of cases carved out by that clause is excluded from the general power notwithstanding any residual or inconsistent wording elsewhere in the provision.

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