AJK Constitution of Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court Act, 2017

  1.  —section 5(5)—appeal against acquittal order passed by District Criminal Court or Tehsil Criminal Court—Appellate jurisdiction lies with the Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court- –District Criminal Court, wholly set aside the judgment of the Tehsil Criminal Court, including the acquittal order of respondent, on appeal of convict-appellants and complainant and remanded to Tehsil Criminal Court for fresh decision—Held: the sub-section 5 of Section 5 of the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Constitution of Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court Act, 2017, provides that Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court shall exercise the appellate jurisdiction against the acquittal order of the District Criminal Court or Tehsil Criminal Court. These provisions establish that there is no avenue for appealing against an acquittal order of Tehsil Criminal Court to the District Criminal Court. In the present case, no appeal against the acquittal order of the respondent was brought before the District Criminal Court, nor does the said Court possess jurisdiction to entertain such an appeal. However, while adjudicating the appeal of the convicted persons and the complainant-appellant, the District Criminal Court Neelum without addressing the matter of the respondent’s acquittal, wholly set aside the judgment of the trial Court and remanded the matter for fresh consideration. In our considered opinion, the matter of acquittal of the respondent was not under consideration by the District Criminal Court Neelum. Consequently, the acquittal order of the respondent shall be deemed unaffected, and the District Criminal Court’s findings regarding the setting aside of the judgment of the trial Court and the remand for fresh decision shall not be applicable to the acquittal of the respondent herein. Fehmida Bibi vs Muhammad Tufail & 2 others 2024 SCR 331 (B)
  2. —Section 8 —Right of appeal before the Supreme Court—Section 14 of AJ&K Family Courts Act, 1993—special procedure for filing appeal before the Supreme Court—Held:that though the right of appeal u/s 8 of the Act, 2017, is provided without any condition but special procedure for filing appeal against the judgments of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court arising out of the family matters envisaged u/s 14 of the Act, 1993, has not been repealed expressly. Muhammad Ajmal Qureshi vs Nazia Bibi & others 2018 SCR 1179 (D)
  3. —Section 8—direction to Government for amendment—in section 8 to clarify the ambiguity— in the manner that despite enactment of s.8, the procedure for filing appeals in the family matters against the judgments of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court shall remain the same as is provided by S. 14 (5) of the AJ&K Family Courts Act, 1993. Muhammad Ajmal Qureshi vs Nazia Bibi & others 2018 SCR 1179 (F)
  4. —Section 14 of AJ&K Family Courts Act, 1993—right of appeal to Supreme Court— promulgation of AJ&K Shariat Appellate Bench and amendment of AJ&K Family Courts Act, 1993—effect upon filing PLA before Supreme Court—on promulgation of the AJ&K Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court Act, 2017 the AJ&K Family Courts Act, 1993 was amended accordingly and u/s 14 for the purpose of appeal by leave before this Court, the words “ Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court were inserted, meaning thereby, that the legislature did not intend to repeal the AJ&K Family Court Act, 1993. It is important to note that the right of appeal u/s 14 of AJ&K Family Court Act, 1993, is not unqualified rather is subjected to a reasonable restriction. Muhammad Ajmal Qureshi vs Nazia Bibi & others 2018 SCR 1179 (A)
  5.  —section 9—Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898—section 561-A—exercise of inherent powers—the High Court not vested with the powers to bypass the special forum created under law–Shariat Appellate Bench is empowered to exercise the appellate/revisional jurisdiction against the orders passed by the District Criminal Court or Tehsil Criminal Court—Act specifically bars jurisdiction of any other Court or Tribunal including Supreme Court and High Court. Asad Muneer Khan V. The State & 16 others 2020 SCR 413 (E&F)  
  6. —Section 5(5) —appeal against acquittal order—limitation for–limitation for filing an appeal before Shariat Appellate Bench of High Court against acquittal order passed by the District Crim. Court and Tehsil Crim. Court is 60 days— argument that Act was promulgated after the acquittal order, thus same is not applicable— Held: Act, was promulgated soon after the acquittal order and it was enjoined to file the appeal against the acquittal order within a period of sixty days. Sheezan Hasrat Versus Ejaz Hussain & another 2021 SCR 399 (A)
  7. —Section 8—appeal to Supreme Court—application u/s 561-A Cr.P.C.—PLA —maintainability of — a party to any proceedings, if aggrieved from the final decision of Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court, may file an appeal before Supreme Court, within a period of 60 days—A revision petition against the decision of Shariat Appellate Bench of the High Court may also be preferred before Supreme Court—Sharait Appellate Bench of the High Court dismissed application u/s 561-A, Cr.P.C.—PLA was filed—held: u/s 8 a direct appeal or revision may be filed against the decision is not competent. Tariq Hussain v. Abdul Karim & others 2022 SCR 195 (A & B)
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