STATE Vs. SOMASEKHARA KURUP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On the basis of a report made by the Court of Session, Alleppey, the learned Judge in charge of the District took up the matter referred by the learned Sessions Judge in suo motu revision. On the basis of a charge sheet filed in Crime No. 69/79 of the Muhamma Police Station alleging that the accused committed an offence punishable under S.307 IPC the case against the accused was committed to the Court of Sessions by the Judicial Magistrate of II Class, Alleppey, under S.209 Cr. P. C. stating that the offence was one exclusively triable by the Court of Session.

(2.) The accused is alleged to have attempted to murder his wife by stabbing her with a knife several times and thereafter in the course of the same transaction he attempted to commit suicide by inflicting injuries on the vital parts of his body with the same knife, an offence punishable under S.309 IPC. On completion of investigation, instead of one charge sheet, two separate charge sheets were filed against the accused, one under S.307 IPC and the other under S.309 IPC. Both the charge sheets were filed before the same Magistrate. On receipt of the charge sheet in the attempt to murder case, it was committed to the Court of Session. The charge sheet in the attempt to commit suicide case was received only subsequently. Therefore the learned Magistrate finding that the latter case is one which ought to be tried with the former, committed the latter case also to the Court of Session. Both the cases were committed to the Court of Session under S.209 Cr. P. C.

(3.) The learned Sessions Judge after going through the records made a report to this Court stating that as the offence under S.309 IPC is triable by any magistrate, the committal of the accused in C. C. No. 1307/79 is illegal and pointing out that as both the offences were alleged to have been committed in the course of the same transaction, the magistrate ought to have waited for the final report in both the cases and then committed both the offences for a single trial to the Court of Session. Alternatively it was submitted by the learned Sessions Judge that the committal order in C.C. No. 1307/79 may be vacated and the case may be sent back to the magistrate. The learned Judge in charge of the District took up the matter in suo motu revision for quashing the order of committal in the Calendar Case