Second Appeal Cannot Be Used To Reappreciate the Evidence- Supreme Court

The Supreme Court noted that the power to file a second appeal under Section 41 of the Punjab Courts Act of 1918 cannot be used to reconsider the evidence.

The bench of Justices BR Gavai and CT Ravikumar stated, "Though the formulation of a substantial question of law is not required, the jurisdiction under Section 41 of the Punjab Act would permit only such decisions to be considered in second appeal which are contrary to the law or to some custom or usage having the force of law, or when the courts below have failed to determine some material issue of law or custom or usage having the force of law.

In this instance, the concurrent findings made by the trial court and the appellate court were overturned by the Punjab and Haryana High Court after granting the defendant's second appeal in a specific performance lawsuit.

The plaintiff relied on a recent SC ruling in Satyender vs. Saroj 2022 in an appeal to the Apex Court. Regarding the aforementioned verdict, the court made the following observation: Considering the case's factual elements, the court noted that the High Court erred by interfering with the parallel findings of fact made by the trial court and the Appellate Court.

The bench decided to grant the appeal and stated.

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