TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1950 (12) TMI 27
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....ged with various offences including murder before a special tribunal established under the regulations promulgated by the Military Governor under the :authority of H.E. 'H. the Nizam and convicted and sentenced to death on the 9th, 13th and 14th of August, 1949, by separate judgments. The petitioners appealed from those judgments to the Hyderabad High Court and the High Court, by its judgments dated the 12th, 13th and 14th December, 1949, respectively, dismissed the appeals. The petitioners applied to the High Court for a certificate to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Hyderabad State on the 21st of January, 1950. It appears that H.E.H. the Nizam issued a firman on the 23rd of November, 1949, stating that the proposed Constitution of India was suitable for the government of Hyderabad and he accepted it as the Constitution of the Hyderabad State as one of the States of Part B in the First Schedule. On the 26th of January, 1950, the Constitution of India became applicable to the Union of India and the Part B States. 'the petitions originally filed for a certificate for leave to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the Hyderabad State were, by leave ....
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....le to the State of Hyderabad. It was pointed out that in respect of convictions all persons who had rights of appeal, or who had time to file their applications for a certificate, as also persons whose petitions were pending before the Hyderabad High Court asking for such certificates and which had not been disposed of because of the congestion of work in the High Court would lose their right to appeal to the higher court if article 136 is not construed so as to give a right of appeal to the Supreme Court of India. It was pointed out by the Attorney General, appearing on behalf of the State, that if a wide construction is given to article 136 it will not only permit persons who are stated to be under such hardship to apply for leave under article 136 but several other rights will be created. Such rights will arise not only in criminal cases but in civil cases also and they can be exercised without any limitation as to the period within which the application has to be made, with the result that old judgments may also be called into question. Moreover, on the wider construction of article 136, judgments which had become final in those States in which there existed no court like the P....
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....rovision to vest in the Supreme Court the jurisdiction enjoyed by the Federal Court, under the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act, 1949. It may be mentioned that the jurisdiction of the Privy Council to entertain appeals from High Courts, except those which were already pending before it on the 10th October 1949, was taken away by this Act. Provision had therefore to be made in respect of appeals which were already pending or which were not covered by the provisions of articles 133 and 134. Article 136 of the Constitution of India is in these terms :- "136. (1) "Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, the Supreme Court may, in its discretion, grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed or made by any Court or tribunal in the territory of India." (2) ............." The expression "territory of India" is defined in article 1 in these terms " 1. The territory of India shall comprise (a) the territories of the States (meaning the States mentioned in Parts A, B and C of the First Schedule), (b) the territories specified in Part D of the First Schedule, (viz., T....
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.... H.E.H. the Nizam was an independent State in the sense that no court in India or the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London had any jurisdiction over the decisions of the Hyderabad State Courts. To give the Supreme Court of India jurisdiction over the decisions of courts of such a state, one requires specific provisions or provisions which necessarily confer jurisdiction to deal, on appeal, with the decisions of such courts. It is common ground that there is no express provision of that kind. There appear to us also no such necessary circumstances which on reasonable construction should be treated as impliedly giving such right of appeal. Indeed the words "territory of India" lead to a contrary conclusion. Under the words used in article 136 the courts which passed judgments or sentence must be courts within the territory of India. The territory of the Government of H.E.H. the Nizam was never the territory of India before the 26th of January, 1950, and therefore the judgment and sentence passed by the High Court of H.E.H. the Nizam on the 12th, lath and 14th December, 1949, cannot be considered as judgments and sentence "passed by a court within the terri....