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Dear Sir, I have the honour to forward herewith a copy of the unanimous resolution of the East Punjab High Court Bar Association for your favourable consideration in connection with the jurisdiction of the proposed Supreme Court under the draft constitution.
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(1) Civil Appeals. That in the matter of civil appeals to the Supreme Court, the amount ( or value) of the subject matter in dispute should not be raised from ten thousand rupees to twenty thousand rupees, because
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(a) The limits of R[unclear]s.10000/- ha[unclear]s been the rule for a long time. The raising of the value of the subject matter of the dispute will be unduly harsh and will deprive a very large number of litigants belonging to middle class of getting their disputes adjudicated by the Supreme Court.
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(b) The litigant will no longer have to carry his case to the Privy Council and on the whole expenses in this country will be less than they used to be in England. In view of the reduction[unclear] of expenses consequent upon the location of t he Supreme Court in India, the [unclear] value of […]
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(c) In view of the expectation of a more equitable distribution of wealth in free India, a sum of Rs.10,000/- will be regarded fairly substantial. T[unclear]he present inflation of currency is only a passing phase of our economic life.
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(d) While in cases involving disputes of t he value of Rs.5,000/- or less, two appeals and a third Letters Patent Appeal are allowed, there is no reason why in cases of higher value (between Rs.5,000/- and Rs.20,000/-) only one appeal should be allo[unclear]wed.
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(2) Criminal Appeals. That it is desirable and expedient to confer criminal appellate jurisdiction on the Supreme Court in the following cases:-
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(1) Where a sentence of death is passed or con-firmed by the High Court, whether on appeal by the convicted person or on appeal by the Provincial Government from an order of acquittal (Section 417, Cr.P.C.).
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(ii) Where an acquittal on a charge punishable with death is set aside by the High Court on appeal or revision and a retrial is ordered.
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(5) The isting High Courts also may be abolished, Chief courts being created for each state. The Federal Court must be located in a central place of our Union, and it ma[unclear] be ex panded so as to serve as a Court of appeal for all Chief Courts.
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NOTE:– In this connection it may be pointed out that in England the Crown has no right to appeal against a finding of acquittal while in this country an appeal against acquittal is provided in Section 417 and a revision is in Section 4[unclear]39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In all such cases justice […]
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(iii) Where a sentence of transportation for life is passed or maintained by the High Court.