The Chief Justice-This is an application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court against the judgment of this Court in Referred Case No. 19 of 1946. As a question arose before us and was discussed whether an appeal lay to the Federal Court against the judgment of this Court, we may deal with the point briefly.

Under Section 3 of Act 1 of 1948, as from the appointed day, that is, the first day of February, 1948, an appeal shall lie to the Federal Court from any judgment to which the said Act applies. A “judgment to which this Act applies” is defined in Section 2(b) of the Act as:

“any judgment, decree or final order of a High Court in a civil case from which a direct appeal could have been brought to His Majesty in Council, either with or without special leave, if this Act have not been passed.”

Undoubtedly, the judgment of this Court was passed in a civil case, because the category of civil cases excludes only criminal cases from the application of the enactment. The question then is whether the judgment sought to be appealed against is the judgment from which a direct appeal could have been brought to His Majesty in Council. There can be only one answer to this question, and