Chakko Mathai vs Paily Mathai

V.R. Krishna Iyer, J.—The question that arises in this reference is as to whether the judgments of both the courts below should be printed and produced by the appellant when he files the appeal even though he is aggrieved by the first appellate court''s judgment and not by the judgment of the court of first instance. Printing is expensive and the expenses of litigation should be kept down to the minimum in a country where people are generally poor and equality before the law and equal protection of the laws are assured by the constitution. Therefore, the party should be asked to produce printed copy only of those papers which the provisions of law actually compel him to do so. Let us, therefore, examine the previsions which require printing. Order 41 Rule 1 C.P.C. states:

Every appeal shall be preferred in the form of a memorandum signed by the appellant or his pleader and presented to the Court or to such officer as it appoints in this behalf. The memorandum shall be accompanied by a copy of the decree appealed from and (unless the Appellate Court dispenses therewith) of the judgment on which it is founded.

The copy of the judgment shall be a printed copy in every case in which the High Court has prescribed that the judgment shall be printed when a copy is applied for, for the purpose of appeal

It is clear that under that provision a printed copy is obligatory only in those cases in which the High Court has prescribed that judgment shall be printed when a copy is applied for the purpose of the appeal. Rule 228 of the Civil Rules of practice states:

Printing of judgment and orders when compulsory--when a copy of a judgment or order passed by a Court is applied for by a party to a suit or proceeding for the purpose of appealing against it to the District Curt or the High Court, the copy shall be printed provided the length of the judgment or order excluding the names of the parties and witnesses and the list of exhibits is in excess of 700 words.........

From this it follows that only copies of the particular judgment or order against which an appeal is being filed that has to be printed not of all the judgments that may have to be produced but only of that judgment which is being appealed against. Order 42 Rule 2 C.P.C. requires the memorandum of appeal to be printed or type-written and it further directs that such memorandum shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the decree and judgment of the appellate Court and unless the Court dispenses therewith, a certified copy of the decree and judgment of the court of first instance. I wish to make it clear that Order 42 Rule 2 C.P.C. does not insist upon the judgments being printed before they are produced along with the memorandum of appeal. It only insists upon certified copy thereof and not printed copies. Rule 228, as I have already pointed out, insists only on the copy of a judgment against which an appeal is being filed, being printed and not copies of judgments against which an appeal is not being filed. This means that where a reversing judgment at the first appellate level is being appealed against the judgment of the trial court is not required to be printed and produced along with the memorandum of appeal. In this context, Rule 70 of the Rules of the High Court of Kerala may be usefully read;

In second appeals the following papers shall be printed or typed at the cost of the appellant:

.......................

(b) the judgment and decree of the court of first instance, if not already printed;

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(d) the judgment(if not already printed) and decree of the lower appellate court;....

It follows that Rule 70 which relates to the post-institution stage, prescribes the need for printing of the judgment of the court of first instance only if it is not already printed.

Thus the legal position is that Order 42 Rule 1, C.P.C., provides for production of certified copies of judgments and decrees of both the lower Courts along with the memorandum of second appeal. Order 41 Rule 1 para 2 provides for printing of copies of judgments where and only where the High Court has prescribed that the judgments shall be printed when a copy is applied for the purpose of appeal. Rule 228 contains that prescription and provides that only that copy of a judgment or order need be printed against which an appeal to the District Court or the High Court is being filed. Thus, at the time of the institution of the appeal where the appellant seeks to challenge only the judgment and decree of the first appellate Court he is not called upon to produce printed copies of the judgments of the court of first instance. He may have to produce printed copies of the first court''s judgment also at a later stage as prescribed by Rule 70 of the Rules of the High Court of Kerala it is found that the said judgment has not already been printed. It is represented before me by counsel that in this case the judgment of the court of first instance has already been printed, but that is a matter to be verified at the stage when Rule 70 is attracted and not now. I therefore direct the appeal to be numbered without the printed copy of the trial court''s judgment.