PANNA LAL Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference by the Additional Sessions Judge of Aligarh recommending that an order passed by a Magistrate of the First Class be set aside and he be directed to try the case de novo.

(2.) The case was under Sections 323 and 506 triable by a Second Class Magistrate. A Bench of Magistrates, invested with Second Class Powers, took cognisance of the offence and recorded some evidence and also framed a charge against the applicants. Subsequently the Bench of Magistrates thought that the case was triable by a First Class Magistrate and stayed proceedings and referred the case to the City Magistrate. The City Magistrate transferred the case to the Court of the First Class Magistrate whose order is in question. When the applicants appeared before the First Class Magistrate, they prayed that the trial should be de novo and that the witnesses should be recalled. The learned Magistrate rejected the application, stating that the applicants did not explain why they wanted a de novo trial. That is the order sought to be revised by this reference.

(3.) The case was undoubtedly transferred under Section 346, Criminal P. C., by the Bench of Magistrates to the First Class Magistrate through the City Magistrate. It does not matter if the Bench of Magistrates erroneously thought that they had no jurisdiction over the case, whereas in fact they had. Section 346 does not deal only with transfers on the ground of want of jurisdiction; it deals with transfers on all grounds. The Bench of Magistrates could have stayed the proceedings and referred the case to the City Magistrate, even if they thought that they had the power to try the case, if they had some other reason for not trying it.