Post-conviction record preparation
Criminal Appeal in Kolkata: Records Needed After Conviction
An appeal is a review of the existing record and judgment under the applicable appellate framework. It is not a second trial assembled from memory. The immediate work is to secure the judgment and sentence materials, calculate limitation, obtain the necessary record and identify errors that affected the decision.
Immediate record
Collect the judgment, sentence and custody position
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 governs criminal appeals and connected procedure. Obtain the judgment, order on sentence, conviction warrant or custody details, bail status, fine directions and certified-copy application information. Record when the relevant order was pronounced and made available; limitation should be calculated from the governing provision and facts.
Pleadings
Keep the complaint or FIR, charge, prosecution case and defence response.
Evidence
Obtain depositions, admitted documents, exhibits, material objects and expert reports.
Orders
Collect interlocutory rulings, rejected applications and daily orders relevant to prejudice.
Judgment analysis
Map each finding to the evidence relied on and the applicable legal test.
Grounds
Distinguish legal error, record error and sentence issue
Potential grounds may concern the ingredients applied, admissibility, burden, material contradiction, exclusion of evidence, procedural unfairness, reasoning or sentence. Each ground should cite the exact record. A disagreement with the result is not by itself an appeal ground, and fresh material cannot be assumed admissible.
- Create a finding-by-finding evidence table.
- Identify preservation of objections in the trial record.
- Separate conviction grounds from sentence submissions.
- Prepare suspension or bail material for its own legal test.
Next route
Do not repeat trial preparation as an appeal
Trial-stage witness and exhibit planning belongs in the criminal trial guide. The appeal file should instead focus on the judgment, record and appellate relief, including any direction that requires immediate compliance.
File review
Bring the certified judgment and indexed trial record
Share the judgment, sentence order, certified-copy details, custody and bail documents, charge, depositions, exhibits, expert reports, applications, daily orders, final submissions and the dates needed for limitation assessment.
Last reviewed: 4 September 2026. This is general information. The appropriate provision, forum, limitation analysis and remedy depend on the complete record; no result is guaranteed.
