2008 (5) TMI 724 - HC - Income Tax

Summary

Issues involved:
The issues involved in this case are:
1. Whether the recent amendment in the Schedule I of the Code of Criminal Procedure is to be applied retrospectively?
2. Whether the case pending before the Magistrate First Class, in which evidence has been recorded and now committed to the Court of Sessions, should be tried de novo by the Court of Sessions or remanded back to the Magistrate First Class for further trial?

Issue 1: Recent Amendment Retrospective Application
The case involved references made by the Sessions Judge and the Additional Sessions Judge under Section 295 of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the retrospective application of the recent amendment in the Schedule I of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The amendment made certain offenses triable by the Court of Sessions instead of the Magistrate of the First Class. The absence of an express provision in the amendment raised the question of whether pending cases under the amended sections should be transferred to the Court of Sessions or retained with the Judicial Magistrate First Class. The High Court referred to previous legal decisions to determine the impact of such amendments on pending cases.

Issue 2: Transfer of Cases to Court of Sessions
The High Court considered legal precedents such as Manujendra Dutt v. Purnedu Prosad Roy Chowdhury and Commissioner of Income Tax v. Smt. R. Sharadamma to address the issue of transferring pending cases from the Judicial Magistrate First Class to the Court of Sessions following the recent amendment. The court emphasized that a change in forum does not affect pending actions unless there is a clear provision for the transfer of proceedings. Relying on the principles of statutory interpretation, the High Court concluded that cases pending before the Judicial Magistrate First Class as of the date of the amendment are not affected and should continue to be tried by the Judicial Magistrate First Class unless committed to the Court of Sessions during the interim period.

In conclusion, the High Court held that all cases pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class as of the date of the amendment are not affected by the recent changes and should continue to be tried by the Judicial Magistrate First Class. Cases committed to the Court of Sessions during the interim period are to be sent back to the Judicial Magistrate First Class for trial. The references made by the Sessions Judge Jabalpur and the Additional Sessions Judge, Indore were disposed of accordingly.