Additional Evidence in First Appeal: Original Documents, Subsequent Events, and the Limits of Remand

Q :-  Documents were not produced before trial court as those documents were not traceable and were not exhibited as xerox copies were filed. whether any party can produce original documents before appellate court? whether appellate court can allow production of original documents at appellate stage only on the ground that those documents were not traceable at the time of proceeding before trial court?

Ans:- First appeals often raise a recurring procedural problem: can a party produce documents for the first time in appeal, especially when the originals were not filed before the trial court? The answer is yes, but only in limited circumstances, because additional evidence in appeal is an exception and not a matter of right.

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Ex Parte at Trial, New Defence in Appeal? The Real Limits of the First Appellate Court Under the CPC

A first appeal under Section 96 CPC is not a mere formality. It is a rehearing on facts and law, and the first appellate court has a duty to independently test the correctness of the decree on the basis of the pleadings, issues, and evidence already on record. But that wide appellate jurisdiction does not mean that a defendant who remained ex parte before the trial court can use the appeal as a fresh opportunity to construct an altogether new defence.

The governing principle is simple: appeal is a continuation of the suit, not a reconstruction of it. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that in a first appeal the entire case is open for rehearing on facts and law, and the appellate court may reverse or affirm the trial court after reappreciating the evidence. At the same time, the appellate court remains confined to adjudicating the controversy as framed by the pleadings of the parties and proved through the trial record.

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Ex Parte Commissioner, Ex Parte Decree: Can the Defendant Challenge It in Appeal?

 Q :- Lower court has appointed court commissioner without hearing defendant as he was proceeded exparte before trial court. Whether he can challenge that order before appellate court? what order the appellate court should pass in such circumstances?  

Ans:- Civil procedure does not permit justice to become one-sided merely because the defendant has been proceeded ex parte. A recurring question arises where, after setting the defendant ex parte, the trial court appoints a Court Commissioner without hearing him. Can that order be challenged before the appellate court, and if yes, what should the appellate court do? The answer lies in a careful reading of Section 96(2), Section 105 and Order XXVI Rule 18 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

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RPwD Act, 2016: A Notification May Designate the Special Court, But Cannot by Itself Confer Direct Cognizance

 Author’s Note: The question is not whether offences under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 deserve prompt and effective prosecution; they certainly do. The real issue is narrower and jurisdictional: when a Court of Session is notified as a Special Court under Section 84, does that notification alone authorize the court to take direct cognizance or entertain remand at the threshold stage? The safer answer is in the negative unless the parent statute or otherwise applicable criminal procedure expressly permits it.

1. Statutory Background

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