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

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The appeal is not limited to facts; Section 14A expressly extends it to questions of law as well.  (b) Tempting, because High Court appeals are often confined to points of law — but Section 14A deliberately allows an appeal on facts too.  (d) An appeal does lie, and Section 14A specifies it is on both facts and law, so 'none' is incorrect.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2019 Q80 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q80 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer