696 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
on its appellate side and the appellate side on hearing the appeal condemns the man to death. There again there is no appeal. Then there is the third case, which is worse, namely, that under section
526 of the Criminal Procedure Code a High Court, in exercising of the powers conferred upon it by that section, withdraws a case to itself and passes a sentence of death. There again there is no appeal.
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : There is a right of appeal in such cases.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : No. No appeal from the High Court.
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Under section 411-A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Section 411-A applies only to the High Courts of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Even there it does not apply to all cases or to cases where such High Courts have acted under section 506. Section 411-A is confined to appeals from the judgment of High Courts sitting on the original side, in sessions. Therefore, Sir………*
Pandit Lakshmi Kanta Maitra : Section 526 generally refers to transfer of cases.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : When a case is transferred and tried by the High Court, there is no right of appeal. It has extraordinary jurisdiction. Therefore these are three flagrant cases where the general principles that a man who has been condemned to death ought to have at least one appeal is not observed. I think, having regard to the enlightened conscience of the modern world and of the Indian people, such a provision ought to be made. The object of sub-clauses (a) and (b) therefore is to provide a right of appeal to a person who has been acquitted in the first instance and has been condemned to death finally by the High Court. I do not think that on grounds of conscience or of humanity there would be anybody who would raise objection to the provisions contained in sub-clauses (a) and (b).
Now I come to sub-clause (c). With regard to this the House will remember that it has today an operative force under the Criminal Procedure Code, section 411, so far as the High Courts of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay are concerned. This right of appeal to the Privy Council on a certificate from the High Court that it is a lit case was conferred by the Legislative Assembly in the year 1943, and very deliberately. We have therefore before us two questions with regard to the
*Dots indicate interruption.