Statutory Appeals Must Be Filed With Certified Copy Of Impugned Judgment: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has reiterated that a statutory appeal cannot be entertained without a certified copy of the impugned judgment.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran was hearing a civil appeal filed by the Central Bank of India against a decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
The Court noted that an application filed by the appellant seeking exemption from filing a certified copy of the impugned judgment. It found that there was a delay of 102 days in re-filing the appeal, yet the exemption application failed to disclose whether any steps had been taken to obtain the certified copy.
In this context, the bench referred to Order XIX Rule 40 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, and categorically observed that a statutory appeal cannot be entertained without a certified copy of the judgment under challenge.
The Court also directed the registry to be mindful about the delay aspect while scrutinizing statutory appeals, which are to be filed within the prescribed limitation period.
Following the direction in this case, the Supreme Court yesterday issued a circular clarifying that statutory appeals will not be entertained unless they are accompanied by a certified copy of the impugned judgment.
"In pursuance of the directions issued in Civil Appeal D.No. 57050 of 2025 titled Central Bank of India v. Bijendra Kumar Jha & Others, dated 27.02.2026, all stakeholders are hereby informed that in view of Order XIX Rules 3 (2) read with 40 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, a Statutory Appeal cannot be entertained without accompanied by a certified copy of the judgment impugned therein. Henceforth, all such Statutory Appeals shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the impugned judgment, for processing the matter further."
Case : Central Bank of India v. Bijendra Kumar Jha & Others,
Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 273
Click here to read the circular