JADEJA MAHIPATSINH BHAVUBHA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The facts giving rise to this petition shortly stated are that the petitioners were being tried by Mr. D. K. Shah Additional Sessions Judge at Gondal in Sessions Case No. 10 of 1966 in respect of charges under secs. 400-401 of the Indian Penal Code. While the case was going on an Application No. 81 of 1967 was made by the State of Gujarat to this Court for the transfer or that case from the file of Mr. D. K. Shah on certain allegations made against him. On 2-5-67 this Court passed are order as under:-

(2.) The contention made out by Mr. Hathi the learned advocate for the petitioners is that on a plain reading of the order passed by the High Court it admits of no scope for the learned Sessions Judge to transfer the case to the Court at Gondal and that according to him it was transferred to the Court at Rajkot meaning thereby that the case was to be tried by that Court at Rajkot. As against that it was urged by Mr. Sompura the learned Govt. Pleader that the case was transferred to the Sessions Court at Rajkot and it says nowhere that it should be tried personally by the Sessions Judge himself and that again at Rajkot. It was besides pointed out that while passing the order in the Transfer Application the High Court had seen no objection on any ground to have the trial of the petitioners at Gondal. The case was not transferred on the ground of inconvenience to the parties at Rajkot. The transfer was occasioned on account of some grievance against the learned Additional Sessions Judge and once that Judge was no longer at Gondal the other Judge who succeeded him would be the proper Court to whom the Sessions Judge in exercise of his powers under sec. 193 of the Criminal Procedure Code can administratively transfer the case.

(3.) Now it was under sec. 526(1)(c) that this Court had passed an order of transferring the case from the Court at Gondal to that of the Sessions Court at Rajkot The relevant provisions of sec. 526 run thus :-