Criminal appeals after July 1 must follow BNSS provisions: Kerala HC
The single bench of Justice P G Ajith Kumar held that for convictions and sentences passed before July 1, appeals should be filed as per the provisions of BNSS , which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
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The clarification was given when the court was hearing a criminal appeal from a sentence passed by a special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court in Manjeri, Malappuram on June 12. The Kerala High Court has recently held that an appeal in a criminal case filed after July 1 should be under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The single bench of Justice P G Ajith Kumar held that for convictions and sentences passed before July 1, appeals should be filed as per the provisions of BNSS , which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The clarification was given when the court was hearing a criminal appeal from a sentence passed by a special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court in Manjeri, Malappuram on June 12. The appeal was made on July 10 under provisions of Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
“A question arises whether this appeal could be filed under the provisions of the CrPC or should have been filed under the provisions of BNSS. Section 415 of the BNSS corresponds to Section 374 of the CrPC,” the court observed. The petitioner argued that the trial was held under the CrPC and so he had the right to appeal under the same code, and could not be forced to invoke the BNSS.
The court wondered whether Section 374(2) of the CrPC or Section 415(2) of the BNSS governs the appellant’s appeal.
“A similar question would arise when an application is filed in a pending appeal that was filed before July 1…” it said. Holding that the July 10 plea should have been under Section 415(2) of the BNSS, the court directed the petitioner to file an amendment/ correction of the memorandum of appeal.
The Kerala HC did not agree with the July 11 ruling of a single bench of the Punjab and Haryana HC that if a defect in a plea filed on or before June 30 is cured after July 1, that appeal/ plea will not be maintainable. The Kerala HC judge said: “Mere misquoting of a provision or mistake in the nomenclature shall not fail a plea.” The Kerala HC, however, agreed with the other HC ruling on the point that “no new/fresh appeal or application or revision or petition can be filed under Code of Criminal Procedure on or after July 1” and that “any appeal/ application/ revision/ petition filed on or after July 1 is to be filed/ instituted under the provisions of BNSS”.
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