ABDUL HAKIM Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition is for the transfer of a case, the trial of which has not yet begun, to another Court on the ground that the Magistrate, Mr. N.K. Ghose, appointed to conduct the trial is a friend of a person, who is also a Magistrate, to whom the petitioner attributes the institution of the case. It appears that the two Magistrates are not special friends but merely maintain the ordinary friendly relations that would be expected to exist between officers-belonging to the same service. The petitioner should not have the slightest cause for apprehension that Mr. N.K. Ghose would on that account feel any prejudice against him. The apprehension does seem however to be honestly entertained and it is desirable that the petitioner should have confidence in the Court by which he is to be tried. No administrative inconvenience will be caused by a transfer of the case the trial of which, as I have said, has not yet commenced.

(2.) A further prayer has now been made on behalf of the petitioner that the case should be transferred to a European Magistrate or to a Magistrate in the Dinapur subdivision, where, it may be mentioned, the petitioner is the head clerk in the office of the Subdivisional Officer on the ground that communal considerations arise in the case. This prayer, which has not been made in the petition, cannot be entertained. The petitioner must not be permitted to choose his own Court. The case will be transferred, as recommended by the District Magistrate to the file of the City Magistrate. This order implies no reflection whatsoever on the judicial independence of Mr. N.K. Ghose.