Report No. 79

10.5. Narrow scope of section 100.-

Even before its amendment in 1976, section 100 had a restricted scope. The restricted scope of interference by the High Court in second appeals even before the amendment had been repeatedly emphasised by the Supreme Court while dealing with second appeals and their admission by the High Court. After the amendment, it has become all the more necessary to bear in mind the restricted ambit of the section, in view of the fact that the scope of interference in second appeal has been further narrowed down. What the section now requires is not only that the appeal should raise a question of law, but also that it should be a substantial question of law.

10.6. First appeal and second appeal.-

We would again like to point out an essential difference between a first appeal and a second appeal. The primary purpose of an appeal on facts is justice in the individual instance. On the other hand, the primary purpose of an appeal on law, at least in the case of a second appeal, is the affirmation or reaffirmation of a particular rule of law. The principal aim, in this case, is the production of certainty in the law. The mere dissatisfaction of a litigant with the judgment on the merits does not itself furnish a ground of second appeal. This is the theory underlying section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure.