An appeal under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 shall lie from any judgement, sentence or order to the High Court
- (a)Only on facts
- (b)Only on law
- (c)Both on facts and on law
- (d)None of the above
Correct — C, both on facts and on law. Section 14A(1) of the Act (inserted by the 2015 amendment) provides that, notwithstanding the Code of Criminal Procedure, an appeal shall lie from any judgment, sentence or order — not being an interlocutory order — of a Special Court or an Exclusive Special Court to the High Court, both on facts and on law. So the High Court can re-examine both the factual findings and the questions of law.
- (a)Only on facts — The appeal is not limited to facts; Section 14A expressly extends it to questions of law as well.
- (b)Only on law — Tempting, because High Court appeals are often confined to points of law — but Section 14A deliberately allows an appeal on facts too.
- (d)None of the above — An appeal does lie, and Section 14A specifies it is on both facts and law, so 'none' is incorrect.
Section 14A was added by the 2015 amendment to give a clear, speedy appellate route under the Atrocities Act. An appeal from a Special Court or Exclusive Special Court lies directly to the High Court, on both facts and law, and should ordinarily be disposed of within three months. Its 'notwithstanding' clause overrides the general appeal scheme of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The trap is 'only on law', because appeals to a High Court are commonly associated with pure questions of law. But Section 14A was drafted to permit re-examination of the facts as well, so the correct choice is 'both on facts and on law'. Interlocutory orders are excluded from this appeal.
- Section 14A (inserted by the 2015 amendment): appeal to the High Court from a Special/Exclusive Special Court on both facts and law.
- Interlocutory orders are excluded from this appeal.
- Such an appeal should ordinarily be disposed of within three months.
- The 'notwithstanding' clause overrides the general appeal provisions of the CrPC.
- Choosing 'only on law' — Section 14A allows appeal on facts too.
- Forgetting that interlocutory orders are excluded from this appeal.
MPPSC tests the exact section (14A) and the scope of appeal; note both the 'facts and law' scope and the three-month disposal norm.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under Section 14A of the SC/ST (POA) Act, an appeal from a Special Court to the High Court should ordinarily be disposed of within:
- (a)one month
- (b)three months
- (c)six months
- (d)one year
Answer(b) three months.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The provision for appeal to the High Court on both facts and law under the SC/ST (POA) Act (Section 14A) was introduced by:
- (a)the original 1989 Act
- (b)the 2015 amendment
- (c)the Code of Criminal Procedure
- (d)a Supreme Court judgment
Answer(b) the 2015 amendment.