UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.versusBRIGADIER P.S. GILL

                     [2012] 2 S.C.R. 571


                 UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.                           A
                                 v.
                     BRIGADIER P.S. GILL
              (Criminal Appeal No. 564 of 2012)
                       MARCH 23, 2012
                                                                   B
      [T.S. THAKUR AND GYAN SUDHA MISRA, JJ.]

       Armed Forces Triburral Act, 2007 - ss. 30(1) and 31 -
  Appeal against final decision/order of the Armed Forces
  Tribunal - Whether can be made directly to Supreme Court C
  or is subject to s.31 - Held: There is no vested right of appeal
  aginst final decision! order of the Tribunal to Supreme Court
  except those falling u/s. 30(2) of the Act - Appeal under
  Section 30(1) is subject to s. 31 -Aggrieved party also cannot
- approach Supreme Court directly under Section 31(1) rlw s. o
  31(2).

     lnterpretion of Statutes:

      Each word used in an enactment, howsoever significant
 or insignificant, must be allowed to play its role in achieving   E
 the legislative intent and promoting legislative object.

     Every clause of a statute should be construed with
 respect to the context and the other clauses of the Act.

      The question for consideration in the present F
 appeals was whether an aggrieved party can file an
 appeal u/s. 30 of Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 against
 final decision/order of the Armed Forces Tribunal, without
 taking resort to the procedure prescribed uls. 31 of the
 Act.                                                       G

     Dismissing the appeals, the Court

     HELD: 1.1. A conjoint reading of Sections 30 and 31
                                 571                               H
   572     SUPREME COURT REPORTS            [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A of Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 can lead to only one
  conclusion viz. there is no vested right of appeal against
  a final order or decision of the Tribunal to Supreme Court
  other than those falling u/s. 30(2) of the Act. The only
  mode to bring up the matter to Supreme Court in appeal
B is either by way of certificate obtained from the Tribunal
  that decided the matter or by obtaining leave of Supreme
  Court u/s. 31 for filing an appeal depending upon whether
  Supreme Court considers the point involved in the case
  to be one that ought to be considered by Supreme Court.
C [Para 6] [579-E-F]

       1.2 A plain reading of Section 30 would show that the
  same starts with the expression "subject to the provision
  of Section 31". Given their ordinary meaning there is no
  gainsaying that an appeal shall lie to this Court only in
D accordance with the provisions of Section 31. It is also
  evident from a plain reading of sub-section (2) of Section
  30 that unlike other final orders and decisions of the
  Tribunal, those passed in exercise of the Tribunal's
  jurisdiction to punish for contempt are appealable as of
E right. The Parliament has made a clear distinction
  between cases where an appeal lies as a matter of right
  and others where it lies subject to the provisions of
  Section 31. The orders passed by the Tribunal and
  assailed in these appeals are orders that will be
F appealable u/s. 30(1) but only subject to the provisions
  of Section 31. [Para 3] [578-D-G]

       1.3. Section 30 of the Act is by reason of the use of
  the words "subject to the provisions of Section 31" made
G subordinate to the provisions of Section 31. The question
  whether an appeal would lie and if so in what
  circumstances cannot, therefore, be answered without
  looking into Section 31 and giving it primacy over the
  provisions of Section 30. That is precisely the object
  which the expression "subject to the provisions of
H
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 573

Section 31" appearing in Section 30(1) intends to achieve. A
Therefore, it cannot be said that the expression "subject
to the provisions of Section 31" are either ornamental or
inconsequential. The right of appeal under Section 30 can
be exercised only in the manner and to the extent it is
provided for in Section 31 to which the said right is made B
subject. [Para 11] [582-E-H]

     1.4. The contention that Section 30 granted an
independent right to file an appeal against the final
decision or order of the Tribunal and that Section 31 was
only providing an additional mode for approaching C
Supreme Court with the leave of the Tribunal would have ·
the effect of not only re-writing Section 30 which
specifically uses the words "subject to the provisions of
Section 31" but would make Section 31 wholly redundant
and meaningless. The expression "subject to the D
provisions of Section 31" cannot be rendered a
surplusage for one of the salutary rules of interpretation
is that the legislature does not waste words. Each word
used in the enactment must be allowed to play its role
howsoever significant or insignificant the same may be E
in achieving the legislative· intent and promoting
legislative object. [Para 8] [580-F-G; 581-A-C]

     K.R.C.S. Balakrishna Chetty & Sons & Co. v. State of
Madras (1961) 2 SCR 736; South India Corporation (P) Ltd. F
v. The Secretary, Board of Revenue (1964) 4 SCR 280; State
of Bihar v.Ba/ Mukund Sah (2000) 4 SCC 640: 2000 (2) SCR
299; B. S. Vadera v. Union of India (1968) 3 SCR 575;
Chandavarkar S.R. Rao v. Ashalata S. Guram (1986) 4 SCC
447: 1986 (3) SCR 866 - relied on
                                                          G
     1.5 The question whether an appeal lies to the
Supreme Court and, if so, in what circumstances and
against which orders and on what conditions is a matter
that would have to be seen in the light of the provisions
of each such enactment having regard to the context and H
   574      SUPREME COURT REPORTS             [2012] 2 S.C.R.

A the other clauses appearing in the Act. It is one of the
  settled canons of interpretation of statutes that every _
  clause of a statute should be construed with respect to·
  the context and the other clauses of the Act, so far as
  possible to make a consistent enactment of the whole
s statute or series relating to the subject. [Para 15] [584-B-
   D]
       M. Pentiah v. Muddala Veeramallapa (1961) 2 SCR 295;
  Gammon India Ltd. v. Union of India (1974) 1 SCC 596: 1974
C (3) SCR 665; V. Tulasamma v. Sesha Reddy (1977) 3 SCC
  99: 1977 (3) SCR 261 -relied on.

       2. Aggrieved party cannot approach Supreme Court
  directly for grant of leave to file an appeal under Section
  31 (1) read with Section 31 (2) of the Act. The scheme of
D Section 31 being that an application for grant of a
  certificate must first be moved before the Tribunal, before
  the aggrieved party can approach Supreme Court for the
  grant of leave to file an appeal. The purpose underlying
  the provision appears to be that if the Tribunal itself
E grants a certificate of fitness for filing an appeal, it would
  be unnecessary for the aggrieved party to approach
  Supreme Court for a leave to file such an appeal. An
  appeal by certificate would then be maintainable as a
  matter of right in view of Section 30 which uses the
F expression "an appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court".
  That appears to be the true legal position on a plain
  reading of the provisions of Sections 30 and 31. [Para 7]
  [580-8-E]
       3. The answer to the apprehension - that in case
G urgent orders are required to be issued in which event
  an application for grant of certificate before the Tribunal
  might prevent the aggrieved party from seeking such
  orders from Supreme Court - lies in Section 31 (3)
  according to which an appeal is presumed to be pending
H until an application for leave to appeal is disposed of and
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 575


if the leave is granted until the appeal is disposed of. An     A
application for leave to appeal is deemed to have been
disposed of at the expiration of the time within which it
may have been made but is not made within that time.
That apart an application for grant of certificate before the
Tribunal can be made even orally and in case the Tribunal       B
is not inclined to grant the certificate prayed for, the
request can be rejected straightaway in which event the
aggrieved party can approach Supreme Court for grant
of leave to file an appeal under the second part of Section
31(1). Once such an application is filed, the appeal is         c
treated as pending till such time the same is disposed of.
[Para 17] [585-A-D]
                     Case Law Reference:
    (1961) 2 SCR 736         Relied on             Para 9       D
    (1964) 4 SCR 280         Relied on             Para 9
    2000 (2) SCR 299         Relied on             Para 9
    (1968) 3 SCR 575         Relied on             Para 9
                                                                E
    1986 (3) SCR 866          Relied on            Para 10
    (1961) 2 SCR 295         Relied on             Para 15
    1.974 (3) SCR 665        Relied on             Para 15
                                                                F
    1977 (3) SCR 261         Relied on             Para 16
    CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 564 of 2012.

    From the Judgment & Order dated 24.05.2011 of the           G
Armed Forces Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi in O.A. No.
147 of 2010.
                              AND
C.A. No. 3046 of 2012.
                                                                H
    576       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A       Vivek Tankha, ASG, Siddharth Dave, Aseem Chandra,
    Vaibhav Shreevastava, Harsh Parashar, D. Kumanan, BV-
    Balaram Das, Anil Katiyar for the Appellants.

        PP Rao, Major K. Ramesh, Utsav Sidhu, Abhimanyu
    Tewari, Archana Ramesh, Dr. Kailash Chand for the
8
    Respondent.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

          T.S. THAKUR, J. 1. A common question of law as to the
c   maintainability of an appeal before this Court against a final
    decision and/or order of the Armed Forces Tribunal arises for
    consideration in these two appeals that purport to have been
    filed under Section 30 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007.

          2. The question precisely is whether an aggrieved party
D    can file an appeal against any such final decision or order of        ,
    the Tribunal under Section 30 of the Act aforementioned before
     this Court without taking resort to the procedure prescribed
     under Section 31 thereof. The appellant's case is that since the
     orders under challenge in these appeals are final orders of the
E    Tribunal, an appeal against the same lies to this Court as a
    matter of right, no matter the right to file such an appeal under
     Section 30 of the Act is subject to the provisions of Section 31
     thereof. The respondents, on the other hand, contended that a
     conjoint reading of Sections 30 and 31 of the Act leaves no
F    manner of doubt that an appeal under Section 30 is
     maintainable only in accordance with and subject to the
     provisions of Section 31. In as much as Section 31 provides
     for an appeal to this Court either with the leave of the Tribunal
     or with the leave of this Court, no absolute right of appeal
G   .against even a final order or decision is available to the
     aggrieved party except in cases where the order passed by the
     Tribunal is in exercise of its jurisdiction to punish for contempt.
     What is the true legal position would necessarily require a
     careful reading of the two provisions that may be extracted at
H   this stage:
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 577
               [T.S. THAKUR, J.]
   "30. Appeal to Supreme Court: (1) Subject to the                 A
   provisions of Section 31, an appeal shall lie to the
   Supreme Court against the final decision or order of the
   Tribunal (other than an order passed under Section 19):

         Provided that such appeal is preferred within a period
                                                                    8
   of ninety days of the said decision or order:

         Provided further that there shall be no appeal against
   aninterlocutory order of the Tribunal.

   (2) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court as of right         c
   from any order or decision of the Tribunal in the exercise
   of its jurisdiction to punish for contempt:

     Provided that an appeal under this sub-section shall be
   filed in the Supreme Court within sixty days from the date       D
   of the order appealed against.

   (3) Pending any appeal under sub-section (2), the
   Supreme Court may order that -

          (a) the execution of the punishment or the order          E
          appealed against be suspended;

          (b) if the appellant is in confinement, he be released
          on bail:

         Provided that where an appellant satisfies the             F
   Tribunal that he intends to prefer an appeal, the Tribunal
   may also exercise any of the powers conferred under
   clause (a) or clause (b), as the case may be.

   31. Leave to appeal: (1) An appeal to the Supreme Court          G
   shall lie with the leave of the Tribunal; and such leave shall
   not be granted unless it is certified by the Tribunal that a
   point of law of general public importance is involved in the
   decision, or it appears to the Supreme Court that the point
   is one which ought to be considered by that Court.
                                                                    H
     578       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A          (2) An application to the Tribunal for leave to appeal to the
           Supreme Court shall be made within a period of thirty days
           beginning with the date of the decision of the Tribunal and
           an application to the Supreme Court for leave shall be
           made within a period of thirty days beginning with the date
B          on which the application for leave is refused by the
           Tribunal.

           (3) An appeal shall be treated as pending until any
           application for leave to appeal is disposed of and if leave
           to appeal is granted, until the appeal is disposed of; and
c          an application for leave to appeal shall be treated as
           disposed of at the expiration of the time within which it
           might have been made, but it is not made within that time."

        3. A plain reading of Section 30 would show that the same
·Dstarts with the expression "subject to the provision of Section
  31". Given their ordinary meaning there is no gainsaying that
  an. appeal shall lie to this Court only in accordance with the
  provisions of Section 31. It is also evident from a plain reading
  of sub-section (2) of Section 30 (supra) that unlike other final
E orders and decisions of the Tribunal, those passed in exercise ·.
  of the Tribunal's jurisdiction to punish for contempt are
  appealable as of right. The Parliament has made a clear
  distinction between cases where an appeal lies as a matter of
  right and others where it lies subject to the provisions of Section
F 31. We are not, in the present case, dealing with an appeal filed
  under Section 30 sub-section (2) of the Act, for the Tribunal has
  not passed the orders under challenge in exercise of its
  jurisdiction to punish for contempt. The ord9fs passed by the
  Tribunal and assailed in these appeals are orders that will be
G appealable under Section 30(1) but only subject to the
  provisions of Section 31.

          4. Section 31 of the Act extracted above specifically
     provides for an appeal to the Supreme Court but stipulates two
     distinct routes for such an appeal. The first route to this Court
H    is sanctioned by the Tribunal granting leave to file such an
  UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 579
                 [T.S. THAKUR, J.]

  appeal. Section 31 (1) in no uncertain terms forbids grant of        A
. leave to appeal to this Court unless the Tribunal certifies that a
  point of law of general public importance is involved in the
  decision. This implies that Section 31 does not create a vested,
  indefeasible or absolute right of filing an appeal to this Court
  against a final order or decision of the Tribunal to this Court.     B
  Such an appeal must be preceded by the leave of the Tribunal
  and such leave must in turn be preceded by a certificate by the
  Tribunal that a point of law of general public importance is
  involved in the appeal.

      5. The second and the only other route to access this Court      C
 is also found in Section 31(1) itself. The expression "or it
 appears to the Supreme Court that the point is one which ought
 to be considered by that Court" empowers this Court to permit
 the filing of an appeal against any such final decision or order
 of the Tribunal.                                                      D

       6. A conjoint reading of Sections 30 and 31 can lead to
.only one conclusion viz. there is no vested right of appeal
 against a final order or decision of the Tribunal to this Court
 other than those falling under Section 30(2) of the Act. The only     E
 mode to bring up the matter to this Court in appeal is either by
 way of certificate obtained from the Tribunal that decided the
 matter or by obtaining leave of this Court under Section 31 for
 filing an appeal depending upon whether this Court considers
the point involved in the case to be one that ought to be              F
 considered by this Court.

      7. An incidental question that arises is whether an
 application for permission to file an appeal under Section 31
 can be moved directly before the Supreme Court without first
 approaching the Tribunal for a certificate in terms of the first      G
 part of Section 31 (1) of the Act. In the ordinary course the
 aggrieved party could perhaps adopt one of the two routes to
 bring up the matter to this Court but that does not appear to
 be the legislative intent evident from Section 31 (2) (supra). A
 careful reading of the section shows that it not only stipulates      H
    580       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A the period for making an application to the Tribunal for grant of
  leave to appeal to this Court but also stipulates the period for
  making an "lpplication to this Court for leave of this Court to
  file an appeal against the said order sought to be challenged.
  It is significant that the period stipulated for filing application to
B this Court starts running from the date beginning from the date
  the application made to the Tribunal for grant of certificate is
  refused by the Tribunal. This implies that the aggrieved party
  cannot approach this Court directly for grant of leave to file an
  appeal under Section 31 (1) read with Section 31 (2) of the Act.
c The scheme of Section 31 being that an application for grant
  of a certificate must first be moved before the Tribunal, before
  the aggrieved party can approach this Court for the grant of
  leave to file an appeal. The purpose underlying the provision
  appears to be that if the Tribunal itself grants a certificate of
  fitness for filing an appeal, it would be unnecessary for the
0
  aggrieved party to approach this Court for a leave to file such
  an appeal. An appeal by certificate would then be maintainable
  as a matter of right in view of Section 30 which uses the
  expression "an appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court". That
E appears to us to be the true legal position on a plain reading
  of the provisions of Sections 30 and 31.

        8. Mr. Vivek Tankha, Additional Solicitor General, however,
   contended that Section 30 granted an independent right to file
   an appeal against the final decision or order of the Tribunal and
F that Section 31 was only providing an additional mode for
   approaching this Court with the leave of the Tribunal. We regret
   to say that we have not been able to appreciate that argument.
   If Section 30 of the Act confers a vested right of appeal upon
   any person aggrieved of a final decision or order of the Tribunal
G and if such appeal can be filed before this Court without much
   ado, there is no reason why the Act would provide for an appeal
  being filed on the basis of a certificate issued by the Tribunal
  _nor would it make any sense for a party to seek leave of this
   Court to prefer an appeal where such an appeal was otherwise
H maintainable as a matter of right. The interpretation suggested
 UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 581
                [TS. THAKUR, J.] ·
 by Mr. Tankha shall, therefore, have the effect of not only re-         A
 writing Section 30 which specifically uses the words "subject
 to the provisions of Section 31" but would make Section 31
 wholly redundant and meaningless. The expression "subject to
 the provisions of Section 31" cannot be rendered a surplusage
 for one of the salutary rules of interpretation is that the             B
 legislature does not waste words. Each word used in the
 enactment must be allowed to play its role howsoever
 significant or insignificant the same may be in achieving the
 legislative intent and promoting legislative object. Although it
 is unnecessary to refer to any decisions on the subject, we may         c
 briefly re-count some of the pronouncements of this Court in
           .
 which the expression "subject to" has been interpreted .

      9. In K.R.C.S. Balakrishna Chetty & Sons & Co. v. State
  of Madras (1961) 2 SCR 736 this Court was interpreting
  Section 5 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1939 in which           D
  the words "subject to" were used by the legislature. This Court
  held that the use of words "subject to" had reference to
· effectuating the intention of law and the correct meaning of the
  expression was "conditional upon". To the same effect is the
  decision of this Court in South India Corporation (P) Ltd. v. The      E
  Secretary, Board of Revenue (1964) 4 SCR 280 where this
  Court held that the expression "subject to" conveyed the idea
  of a provision yielding place to another provision or other
  provisions to which it is made subject. In State of Bihar v. Bal
  .Mukund Sah (2000) 4 sec 640 this Court once again                     F
  reiterated that the words "subject to the provisions of this
  Constitution" used in Article 309, necessarily means that if in
  the Constitution there is any other provision specifically dealing
  with the topics mentioned in the said Article 309, then Article
   309 will be subject to those provisions of the Constitution. In       G
   B.S. Vadera v. Union of India (1968) 3 SCR 575, this Court
   interpreted the words "subject to the provisions of any Act",
   appearing in proviso to Article 309 and observed:

      "It is also significant to note the proviso to art. 309, clearly   H
    582        SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A         lays down that 'any rules so made shall have effect, subject
          to the provisions of any such Act'. The clear and
          unambiguous expression, used in the Constitution, must
          be given their full and unrestricted meaning, unless
          hedged-in, by any limitations. The rules, which have to be
B         'subject to the provisions of the Constitution', shall have
          effect, 'subject to the provisions of any such Act'. That :s,
          if the appropriate Legislature has passed an Act, under
          Art. 309, the rules, framed under the Proviso, will have
          effect, subject to that Act; but, in the absence of any Act,
c         of the ::ippropriate Legislature, on the matter, in our opinion,
          the rules, made by the President, or by such person as he
          may direct, are to have full effect, both prospectjvely and,
          retrospectively."

          10. In· Chandavarkar S.R. Rao v. Ashalata S. Guram
D (1986) 4 SCC 447, this Court -declared that the words
    "notwithstanding" is in contradistinction to the phrase 'subject
    to' the latter conveying the idea of a ~rovision yielding place to
    another provision or other provisions to which it is made
    subject.                                 ·
E
          11. There is in the light of the above decisions no
    gainsaying that Section 30 of the Act is by reason of the use
    of the words "subject to the provisions of Section 31" made
    subordinate to the provisions of Section _31. The question
F whether an appeal would lie and if so in what circumstances
    cannot, therefore, be answered without looking into Section 31
    and giving it primacy over the provisions of Section 30. That is
    precisely the object which the expression "subject to the
    provisions of Section 31" appearing in Section 30(1) intends
G to achieve. We have, therefore, no hesitation in rejecting the
    submission of Mr. Tankha that the expression "subject to the
    provisions of Section 31" are either ornamental or
    inconsequential nor do we have any hesitation in holding that
    right of appeal under Section 30 can be exercised only in the
H manner and to the extent it is provided for in Section 31 to
  , which the said right is made subject.
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 583
               [T.S. THAKUR, J.]
     12. Mr. P.P. Rao, learned senior counsel appearing for the       A
respondent in Criminal Appeal D. No. 38094 of 2011 also drew
our attention to several other statutes in which an appeal is
provided to the Supreme Court but where such provision is
differently worded. For instance, Section 116-A of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for an appeal         B
to this Court and reads as under:

    "116-A. Appeals to Supreme Court - (1)
    Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the
    time being in force, an appeal shall lie to the Supreme           C
    Court on any question (whether of law or fact) from every
    order made by a High Court under Section 98 or Section
    99."

     13. So also the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 provides
for an appeal to this Court under Section 23 thereof which reads      D
as under:

     "23. Appeal - Any person, aggrieved by an order made by
     the National Consumer in exercise of its powers by sub-
     clause (i) of clause (a) of Section 21, may prefer an appeal     E
     against such order to the Supreme Court within a period
     of thirty days from the date of the order."

     14. Even the Terrorists Affected Areas (Special Courts)
Act, 1984 providing for an appeal to the Supreme Court under
Section 14, starts with a non obstante clause and creates an          F
indefeasible right of appeal against any judgment, sentence or
order passed by such Court both on facts and law. Similar was
the case with Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act,
1987 which provided an appeal to the Supreme Court against
any judgment, sentence or order not being an interlocutory order      G
of a Designated Court both on facts and law. Section 55 of the
Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 also
provided an appeal to this Court on one of the grounds
specified in Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
The Advocates Act, 1961, The Customs Act, 1962 and the                H
    584       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A   Central Excise Act, 1944 provide that an appeal shall lie to this
    Court using words different from those that have been used in
    Sections 30 and 31 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act.

          15. It follows that the question whether an appeal lies to
   the Supreme Court and, if so, in what circumstances and
8
   against which orders and on what conditions is a matter that
   would have to be seen in the light of the provisions of each such
   enactment having regard to the context and the other clauses
   appearing in the Act. It is one of the settled canons of
C interpretation of statutes that every clause of a statute should
   be construed with respect to the context and the other clauses
   of the Act, so far as possible to make a consistent enactment
   of the whole statute or series relating to the subject. Reference
   to the decisions of this Court in M. Pentiah v. Muddala
 ' Veeramallapa (1961) 2 SCR 295 and Gammon India Ltd. v.
D Union of India (1974) 1 SCC 596 should in this regard suffice.
   In Gammon India Ltd. (supra) this Court observed:

          "Every clause of a statute is to be construed with reference
          to the context and other provisions of the Act to make a
E         consistent and harmonious meaning of the statute relating
          to the subject-matter. The interpretation of the words will
          be by looking at the context, the collocation of the words
          and the object of the words relating to the mattes."

F        16. We may also gainfully extract the following passage
    from V. Tulasamma v. Sesha Reddy (1977) 3 SCC 99 where
    this Court observed:

          "It is an elementary rule of construction that no provision
          of a statute should be construed in isolation but it should
G         be construed with reference to the context and in the light
          of other provisions of the Statute so as, as far as possible,
          to make a consistent enactment of the whole staute ... "

        17. Mr. Tankha, Additional Solicitor General and Ms.
H   Rachana Joshi lssar, counsel appearing for the appellants in
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. v. BRIGADIER P.S. GILL 585
               [T.S. THAKUR, J.]

the connected matters lastly argued that there may be               A
circumstances in which urgent ord~rs may be required to be
issued in which event an application for grant of certificate
before the Tribunal may prevent the aggrieved party from
seeking such orders from this Court. The answer to that
question lies in Section 31 (3) according to which an appeal is     B
presumed to be pending until an application for leave to appeal
is disposed of and if the leave is granted until the appeal is
disposed.of. An application for leave to appeal is deemed to
have been disposed of at the expiration of the time within which
it may have been made but is not made within that time. That        c
apart an application for grant of certificate before the Tribunal
can be made even orally and in case the Tribunal is not inclined
to grant the certificate prayed for, the request can be rejected
straightaway in which event the aggrieved party can approach
this Court for grant of leave to file an appeal under the second    D
 part of Section 31(1). Once such an application is filed, the
appeal is treated as pending till such time the same is disposed
 of.

      18. In the result these appeals are dismissed reserving
liberty to the appellants to take recourse to Section 31 of the     E
Act. To effectuate that remedy we direct that the period of
limitation for making an application for leave to appeal to this
Ccurt by certificate shall start from the date of this order. We
make it clear that we have not heard learned counsel for the
parties on merits of the controversy nor have we expressed any      F
opinion on any one of the contentions that may be available to
them in law or on facts. No costs.

K.K.T.                                     Appeals dismissed.