Recently, the division bench of the Supreme Court comprising, Justices CT Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia held that, regular second appeal cannot be examined without framing a substantial question of law.

Further, the Court explain the legal position in the matter of exercise of power under Section 100 of the Civil Procedure Code.

Section 100 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) deals with second appeals in civil cases in India. It outlines the conditions and grounds under which a party can file a second appeal before a higher court, typically the High Court. 

Case Brief -  

The court granted the appeals challenging the Uttarakhand High Court's orders, namely, the one from March 23, 2018, issued in the second appeal, and the other from October 25, 2018, concerning the review petition.

It was discovered that the High Court's order revealed that, even though the substantial question of law had been recalled on July 29, 2009, no new question of law was framed or examined in that regard.

During the course of hearing, the Court pointed out the impugned judgment would reveal that referring to the said substantial question of law that was recalled, iit could not even be considered as a question of law and it could, at the most, be a case of professional misconduct and too, required to be proved. 

"Evidently, after observing thus the High Court permitted the parties to advance arguments on the issues arising from the pleadings and the oral and documentary evidence led by the parties qua partition. Evidently, thereafter the High Court had undertaken re-appreciation of the evidence, without formulating any question of law warranting such re-appreciation," the bench said. 

By giving reference of 'Govindaraju V. Mariamman' (2005) whereunder the top court held from the analysis of Section 100 that if the appeal was entertained without framing substantial questions of law, then it would be illegal and would amount to failure or abdication of the duty cast on the court.

Consequently, the bench ordered the Uttarakhand High Court to frame any relevant questions of law for consideration and handle the matter in compliance with legal procedures. Additionally, given that the appeals were filed in 2019, the High Court was urged to expedite the resolution of the appeals.

Also Read - Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul highlights concerns regarding Undertrial Prisoners