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TMI Blog2000 (1) TMI 975X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pellant outraged/tried to outrage her modesty. The police after investigation, filed a charge-sheet directly before the Sessions Court, Karim Nagar (Andhra Pradesh) which was designated as the special court for trial of offences under the Act committed within the territorial limits of the district concerned. In the charge-sheet, first appellant is alleged to have committed the offence under Section 3(1) (XI) of the Act and also Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code. Besides first appellant, the investigating officer arrayed his wife as the second appellant for the offence under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code in relation to the offences put against her husband, on the allegation that when Kumari Swetha complained to the second appellant of the misdemeanor committed by the first accused, she tried to persuade the complainant not to divulge ft to anybody else. Subsequently the police dropped Section 354 of the IPC from the charge-sheet and filed a revised charge-sheet pursuant to a query put by the Special Judge concerned. A charge was framed by the Special Judge against both the appellants for the aforesaid offences respectively. It was presumably at the said stage that the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y for each district a Court of Session to be a Special Court to try the offences under this Act . So it is for trial of the offences under the Act that a particular Court of Session in each district is sought to be specified as a Special Court. Though the word trial is not defined either in the Code or in the Act it is dearly distinguishable from inquiry. The word inquiry is defined in Section 2(g) of the Code as. every inquiry, other than trial, conducted under this Code by a magistrate or court . So the trial is distinct from inquiry and inquiry must always be a forerunner to the trial. The Act contemplates only the trial to be conducted by the Special Court. The added reason for specifying a Court of Session as special Court is to ensure speed for such trial. Special Court is defined in the Act as a Court of Session specified as a Special Court in Section 14 , [vide S.2(l)(d)] Thus the Court of Session is specified to conduct a trial and no other court can conduct the trial of offences under the Act. Why the Parliament provided that only a Court of session can be specified as a Special Court? Evidently the legislature wanted the Special Court to be Court of Session. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m some of the decisions rendered by various High Courts that contentions were advanced based on Sections 4 and 5 of the Code as suggesting that a departure from Section 193 of the Code is permissible under special enactments. Section 4 of the Code contains two sub-sections of which the first sub-section is of no relevance since it deals only with offences under the Indian Penal Code. However, sub-section (2) deals with offences under other laws and hence the same can be looked into. Sub- section (2) of Section 4 is extracted below : All offences under any other law shall be investigated, inquired into, tried, and otherwise dealt with according to the same provisions, but subject to any enactment for the time being in force regulating the manner or place of investigating, inquiring into, trying or otherwise dealing with such offences. A reading of the sub-section makes it clear that subject to the provisions in other enactments all offences under other Jaws shall also be investigated, inquired into, tried and otherwise dealt with under the provision of the Code, This means that if other enactment contains any provision which is contrary to the provisions of the Code, such ot ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (vide para 128 in Directorate of Enforcement v. Deepak Mahajon, [1994] 3 SCC 440. Hence we have no doubt that a Special Court under this Act is essentially a Court of Session and it can take cognizance of the offence when the case is committed to it by the magistrate in accordance with the provisions of the Code. In other words, a complaint or a charge sheet cannot straightway be laid before the Special Court under the Act. When this question was considered by various High Courts, the High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Allahabad, Patna and Punjab Haryana have adopted the view consistent with the view which we have stated above. (vide Meerabai v. Bhujbal Singh, (1995) Crl. L.J. 2376 MP; Papu Singh v. State of U.P., (1995) Crl LJ, 2803 Allahabad; Jhagurmahto v. State of Bihar, (1993) 1 Crimes 643 Patna; Jyoti Arora v. State of Haryana, (1998) 2 Crl. L.R. 73 P. H. But it seems that the only High Court which took a contrary view is the High Court of Kerala, At first a Division Bench of that High Court took the view that the Special Court can straightway take cognizance of the offence under the Act and proceed with the trial unaffected by Section 193 of the Code. (vide In re: Dire ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h Court after referring to the Full bench decision in Hareendran v. Sarada (supra) made the following observations in Referring Officer rep. By State of A.P. v. Shekar Nair, (1999) 3 ALT 533 = (1999) Crl. L.J 4173 : We find it difficult to agree with the reasoning of the Kerala High Court in the two decisions referred to above. As already observed by us, in theabsence of a particular procedure prescribed by the said Act as regards the mode of taking cognizance, enquiry or trial, the procedure under the Code will have to be applied by reason of Section 4(2) of the Code as clarified by the Supreme Court in the case of Directorate of Enforcement (AIR (1994) SC 1775). There is no provision in the Act which excludes the application of Section 193, Cr. P.C. The mere fact that no procedure is prescribed or specified under the Special Act does not mean that the Special Act dispenses with the procedure for committal in the Case triable by Court of Sessions and that the Special Court gets original jurisdiction in the matter of initiations, enquiry or trial. There is no good reason why the procedural provisions of Code relating to power and mode of taking cognizance including Section 193 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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