A court cannot alter or review its judgment post-signature except for clerical errors, as outlined in Sections 362 and 482 of the CrPC.

1. MCRC No. 7260/08 (Prahlad Singh v. State of M.P.), MCRC No. 6707/08 (Makhan Das v. State of M.P.), MCRC No. 5879/08 (Bhagwan Singh and Others v. State of M.P.), MCRC No. 6760/08 (Sabba and Others v. State of M.P.) are being disposed of by this common order as the point for consideration in all these Miscellaneous Criminal Cases are the same. The point for consideration is that whether the period for payment of amount of fine, ordered in judgment in an appeal, can be extended by this Court in view of S.482 CrPC?

2. The facts of the case, in nutshell, are as under :
In MCRC No. 7260/08 (Criminal Appeal No. 497/2001), petitioner Prahlad Singh has been convicted under S.324 of IPC and sentenced to the period already undergone by him with an imposition of fine amount of Rs. 3,000/-. It has further been directed that he shall surrender before the trial Court to deposit the amount of fine within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of the judgment with default stipulation.
In MCRC No. 6707/08 (Criminal Appeal No. 434/2002). petitioner Makhan Das has been convicted under S.323 read with S.34 of IPC and sentenced to the period already undergone by him with an enhancement of fine from Rs. 500/- to 1000/-. He is further directed to deposit the amount of fine within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of certified copy of the judgment with default stipulation.
In MCRC No. 5879/08 (Criminal Appeal No. 110/2000), petitioner Bhagwan Singh has been convicted under S.451, S.323 and S.426 of IPC and sentenced to the period already undergone by him but the amount of fine to the tune of Rs. 1,000/- has been imposed under S.323 of IPC; amount of fine to the tune of Rs. 500/- has been imposed under S.426 of IPC while the amount of fine as awarded by learned trial Court under S.451 of IPC has been enhanced from Rs. 100/- to Rs. 500/-. The rest of the petitioners have been convicted under S.323 read with S.34 of IPC and they have also been sentenced to the period already undergone by them but the amount of fine has been imposed to the tune of Rs. 1,000/- each with default stipulations. They have directed to deposit the amount of fine before the trial Court within a period of 15 days from the receipt of this judgment.
In MCRC No. 6760/08 (Criminal Appeal No. 355/99), the petitioner No. 2 Ramdayal has been convicted under S.326 of IPC and was sentenced to the period already undergone by him but the amount of fine has been enhanced from Rs. 5,000/- to 7000/-. The rest of the petitioners have been convicted under S.148 and S.324 of IPC and sentenced to the period already undergone by them but the amount of fine has been enhanced under S.324 of IPC from Rs. 2,000/- to Rs. 3,000/- with default stipulations. The conviction and sentence of all the petitioners under S.148 of IPC have been maintained. It has further been directed that the amount of fine be deposited before the trial Court within a period of one month from this judgment.

3. On behalf of the petitioners, petitions under S.482 of Code of Criminal Procedure , 1974 have been filed and it is submitted that they could not deposit the amount of fine as directed by this Court and prayer was made to extend the period for payment of amount of fine.

4. On behalf of the State, the applications have been opposed on the ground that in view of S.362 of CrPC, time cannot be extended with the aid of S.482 of CrPC.

5. Counsel for the petitioners submit that this Court has inherent powers to