# 4-60 UNION OF INDIA & ANR v. B. N. ANANTI PADMANABIAB ETC. April 22, 1971

- **Citation:** [1971] Supp. 1 S.C.R. 460
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1971-04-22
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/4-60-union-of-india-anr-v-b-n-ananti-padmanabiab-etc-april-22-1971-5265
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

4-60
UNION OF INDIA & ANR.
v.
B. N. ANANTI PADMANABIAB ETC.
April 22, 1971.
B
rs. M. SIKRI, c. ]., c. A. VAIDIAI!INGAM AND A. N. RAY, ]'J.J
c
D
E
F
G
B
Code of Crimmal Procedure, 1898, s. 4]!).-Difference of opinion bet•
ween two judges of High Court-Reference to third 'judge-Third judRe
can deal with whole case and entertain new plea.
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, s. SA and Code of Criminal Procedure, s. 12-Jurisdiction of Magistrate under s. SA does not extend to
whole of India-Magistrate can exercise jurisdiction under s. SA. throughout district in which he holds charge but not outside district.
The appellants were charged with offences under s. 5(2) & 5(1) (c) and
S(l) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 as well as under ss. 467
and 471 of the Indian Penal Code by the Special Judge, Gauhati. The
appellants filed revision petitions in the High Court of Assam & Nagaland.
On difference of opinion arising between the two Judges of the Division
Bench reference was made to a third Judge under s. 429 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Before the third Judge a new plea was advanced
on behalf of the appellants, namely that tho Magistrate at Delhi had no
jurisdiction to accord sanction to an Inspector of the Delhi Special Police
Establishment to investigate the case .in Assam. The third Judge held that
an order of a Magistrate of the local jurisdiction was necessary and excepting a Magistrate of the District where the crime was committed no
other Magistrate outside the jurisdiction could make an order for investigation. In the result the proceedings before the Special Judge were quashed. In appeal by certificate to this Court,
HELD: (i) The contention that the third learned Judae could only
deal with the difference between the two learned Judges and not with the
whole case could not be accepted. The language of s. 429 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure is explicit that the case with tho opinion of the
Judges comprising the court of appeal shall be laid before another Judae
of the same court. The other noticeable feature in s. 429 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure is that the judgment or order shall follow the opinion
of the third learned Judge. Further more, the appeal is from the order
of the third learned Judge as it must be by reason of the divided opinion
of the Bench. [4630]
Hethuba & Ors. v. State of Gujarat, Cr. A. No. 100/67 dl 13-3-1970,
followed.
(ii) Section 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the State
Government to appoint besides the District Magistrate, Magistr~tes of the
first, second or third class in any district and tho State Government may
from time to time define local areas within which such Magistrate may
exercise all or any of the powers with which they may be invested under
the Code. Section 12(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure enacts that
except as otherwise provided the jurisdiction and powers of such Magistrates shall extend throuahout such district It therefore follows that the
Maaistrates of the first class of a district have powers within defined local
areas within tho district and their jurisdiction and powers may in certain
UNION V. B. N •. ANANTI (Ray,J.)
461
cases extend throughout such district The Magistrate at Delhi can in
A
certain cases exercise jurisdiction and power throughout the district where
he is appointed. [464E·G]
It will not be in consonance with the jurisdiction and structure of
courts of Magistrates to allow an order of investigation to be made by a
Magistrate of Delhi for investigatiQri of a case in the State of Assam. The
reason is that a Magistrate orders investigation in a case which he has
power to inquire into or try. The real import of s. SA of the Prevention
B
of Corruption Act is that investigation is to be done by Police Officers of a
certain rank to ensure protection agaj.nst frivolous, prosecution, and it is
only with the order of Presidency Magistrate or a Magistrate of the fi.-st
class that Police Officers below the ran~ mentioned in the se

## Text

4-60
UNION OF INDIA & ANR.
v.
B. N. ANANTI PADMANABIAB ETC.
April 22, 1971.
B
rs. M. SIKRI, c. ]., c. A. VAIDIAI!INGAM AND A. N. RAY, ]'J.J
c
D
E
F
G
B
Code of Crimmal Procedure, 1898, s. 4]!).-Difference of opinion bet•
ween two judges of High Court-Reference to third 'judge-Third judRe
can deal with whole case and entertain new plea.
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, s. SA and Code of Criminal Procedure, s. 12-Jurisdiction of Magistrate under s. SA does not extend to
whole of India-Magistrate can exercise jurisdiction under s. SA. throughout district in which he holds charge but not outside district.
The appellants were charged with offences under s. 5(2) & 5(1) (c) and
S(l) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 as well as under ss. 467
and 471 of the Indian Penal Code by the Special Judge, Gauhati. The
appellants filed revision petitions in the High Court of Assam & Nagaland.
On difference of opinion arising between the two Judges of the Division
Bench reference was made to a third Judge under s. 429 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure.
Before the third Judge a new plea was advanced
on behalf of the appellants, namely that tho Magistrate at Delhi had no
jurisdiction to accord sanction to an Inspector of the Delhi Special Police
Establishment to investigate the case .in Assam. The third Judge held that
an order of a Magistrate of the local jurisdiction was necessary and excepting a Magistrate of the District where the crime was committed no
other Magistrate outside the jurisdiction could make an order for investigation. In the result the proceedings before the Special Judge were quashed. In appeal by certificate to this Court,
HELD: (i) The contention that the third learned Judae could only
deal with the difference between the two learned Judges and not with the
whole case could not be accepted. The language of s. 429 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure is explicit that the case with tho opinion of the
Judges comprising the court of appeal shall be laid before another Judae
of the same court. The other noticeable feature in s. 429 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure is that the judgment or order shall follow the opinion
of the third learned Judge. Further more, the appeal is from the order
of the third learned Judge as it must be by reason of the divided opinion
of the Bench. [4630]
Hethuba & Ors. v. State of Gujarat, Cr. A. No. 100/67 dl 13-3-1970,
followed.
(ii) Section 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the State
Government to appoint besides the District Magistrate, Magistr~tes of the
first, second or third class in any district and tho State Government may
from time to time define local areas within which such Magistrate may
exercise all or any of the powers with which they may be invested under
the Code. Section 12(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure enacts that
except as otherwise provided the jurisdiction and powers of such Magistrates shall extend throuahout such district It therefore follows that the
Maaistrates of the first class of a district have powers within defined local
areas within tho district and their jurisdiction and powers may in certain
UNION V. B. N •. ANANTI (Ray,J.)
461
cases extend throughout such district The Magistrate at Delhi can in
A
certain cases exercise jurisdiction and power throughout the district where
he is appointed. [464E·G]
It will not be in consonance with the jurisdiction and structure of
courts of Magistrates to allow an order of investigation to be made by a
Magistrate of Delhi for investigatiQri of a case in the State of Assam. The
reason is that a Magistrate orders investigation in a case which he has
power to inquire into or try. The real import of s. SA of the Prevention
B
of Corruption Act is that investigation is to be done by Police Officers of a
certain rank to ensure protection agaj.nst frivolous, prosecution, and it is
only with the order of Presidency Magistrate or a Magistrate of the fi.-st
class that Police Officers below the ran~ mentioned in the section are al·
lowed to investigate. It is therefore appropriate that Magistiates in Presi·
dency towns or District will. order investigation of cases within their respective jurisdiction. The effect of s. SA of the Prevention of Corruption
C
Act, is that it is a special Act which confers power on Presidency Magistrates
throughout the Presidency town and Magistrates of the first class through·
out the District when they exercise powers under the Code of Criminal
Procedure. Therefore in cases governed by s. SA of the Prevention of
Corruption Act, Magistrates of the first class will exercise jurisdiction
throughout the district irrespective of defined areas of their jurisdiction
within the district by reason of s. 12(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
[46SA·E)
D
In the present appeals, the order of investigation made by the Magis.
Irate at Delhi for investigatidn of cases in the State of Assam was not a
valid and competent order within the powers of the Magistrate at Delhi.
The orders of investigation were therefore rightly quashed by the High
Court [46SE-F]
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICilON : Criminal Appeals Nos.
E
158 to 160 of 1970.
Appeals"from the judgment and order dated March 31, 1969
of the Assam and Nagaland High Court in Criminal Revision
Applications Nos. 53, 62 and 71 of 1968.
D. Mookherjee, Avtar Singh and R. N. Sachthey, for the
F
appellants (in both the appeals).
Gobind Das and Lily Thomas, for respondent (in Cr. A. No.
158/1970).
1. P. Mitter and Sukumar Ghose, for respondent (in Cr. A.
G
No. 159/1970).
A. S. R. Chari, Naunit Lal and Swaranjit Sodhi, for respondent (in Cr. A. No. 160 of 1970).
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by:
Ray, J~These three appeals are by certificate from the judgment and order dated 31 March. 1969 of the High Court of Assam
and Nagaland.
H
462
SUPREME COURT REPDRTS
[1971] SUPP. s.c.R.
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
These three appeals arise out of special cases No. 16 and l 6A
uf 1964 pending in the court of the Special Judge. Gauhati
In
Special Case No. 16 of 1964 Major J. S. Prosad, B. N. Ananthapadamanabhiah and Motiur Rahman were charged under section
120B of the Indian Penal Code read with sections 5(2), 5(1) (c) and
50 )(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and section 467 I
471 of the Indian Penal Code. In Special Case No. 16A of 1964
charges were framed against S. Chatterjee and Motiur Rehman
under section 120B of the Indian Penal Code read with sections
5(2), 5(1)(c) and 5(l)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and
sections 467 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.
The appellants filed three separate criminal revision petitions
in the High Court.
Four contentions were advanced before the
High Court.
First, that the Special Judge at Gauhati had no
jurisdiction to try offences investigated by the Delhi Special Police
Establishment as the Delhi Special Establishment Act was not
extended to NEFA. Secondly, that under section 6 of the Delhi
Special Police Establishment Act, the Delhi Special Police Establishment cannot investigate in a case in any area which is not a
Union territory or a railway area without the consent of the
Government of the State.
lt was contended that the consent of
the Government of Assam was not taken.
Thirdly, the investigation was carried out by an Inspector of Police under section 5(2)
of the Prevention of Corruption Act under an order of a Magistrate of the First-class at Delhi, but the Magistrate did not apply
his mind to the matter and mechanically gave the permission.
Fourthly, no sanction was taken under section 196A of the Code
of Criminal Procedure before cognisance was taken by the court.
The Dfvision Bench consisting of C. J. and Goswami, J. unanimously rejected the first two contentions but were divided in their
opinion as to whether the Magistrate applied his mind· to allow the
investigation by an Inspector of Police and whether sanction under
section 196A of the Code of Criminal Procedure was necessary.
The matter was thereafter placed before the third learned Judge
Sen, J. Before the third learned Judge another contention was
advanced as to whether the Magistrate at Delhi had jurisdiction to
accord sanction to an Inspector of Police of the Delhi Special
Police Establishment to investigate the case in Assam.
The third
learned Judge held that an order of a Magistrate of the local
jurisdiction was necessary and excepting a Magistrate of the district where the crime was committed no other Magistrate outside
the jurisdiction could make an order for investigation. The third
learned Judge also held that the Magistrate at Delhi did not apply
his mind to allow the Inspector of Police to do the investigation.
In the result, the proceedings before the Special Judge were quashed.
UNION V. B. N. ANANTI (,Ray, J.)
463
A question arose as to whether a new contention as to the
A
competency of the Magistrate at Delhi to sanction investigation
could have been raised before the third learned Judge when it had
not been raised before the Division Bench.
Counsel for the respondents contended that under section 429 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the case was to be laid before the third learned
Judge and the third learned Judge was empowered to deal with
B
the entire case and the judgment and order would follow the
opinion of the third learned Judge.
This question came up for consideration in the recent unroported decision in Hethubha & Ors. v. The State of Gujarat ('). It
was contended in that case on behalf of the appellants that the
third learned Judge could only deal with the differences between
C
the two learned Judges and not with the whole case. This Court
held that the third learned Judge could deal with the whole case.
The language of section 429 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
is explicit that the case with the opinion of the Judges comprising
the Co•irt of Appeal shall be laid before another Judge of the
same Court. The other noticeable feature in section 429 of the
D
Code of Criminal Procedure is that the judgment or order shall
follow the opinion of the third learned Judge.
l:'urthermore, the appeal is from the order of the third learned
Judge as it must be by reason of the divided opinion of the Bench.
The more important question in the present appeals is whether
the Magistrate at Delhi was competent to authorise the investigation of the case.
The relevant provision is to be found in section
SA of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 as it stood prior
to its amendment in 1964 and is as follows :-
"Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898, no Police Officer below the
rank-
(a) in the presidency towns of Ma.dras and Ca 1cutta, of an Assistant Commissioner of Police ;
(b) in the presidency town of Bombay of a
Superintendent of Police ; and
(c) elsewhere, of a Deputy Supmutendent of
Police,
shall investigate any offence punishable under section
161, section 165 or section 165A of the Indian Penal Code
or under sub section (2) of this Act, without the order
of the Presidency Magistrate or a Magistate of the first
class. as the case may be, or make any arrest therefor
without a warrant".
(I) Cr. A.No. 100ofl967 dt. 13-3-1970.
E
F
G
H
464
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1971] SUPP. S.C.R.
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
The words "Presidency Magistrate or a Magistrate of the
First Class, as the case may be" were construed by counsel for the
the appellants to mean that except in the case of Presidency
Magistrate it could be any first class Magistrate of any area inasmuch as there was no !imitation with regard to any area of terri·
torial jurisdiction by a Magistrate of the first class under section
SA of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
Reliance was
placed by counsel for the appellants on section S of the Code of
Criminal Procedure that the investigation under section S(2) of the
Code of Criminal Procedure could be according to the provisions
of the Code of Criminal Procedure but subject to any enactment
regulating the manner or place of investigation.
It was said that
section SA of the Prevention of Corruption Act was a special Act
regulating the manner of investigation and therefore the Code of
Criminal Procedure would not apply to that extent.
Presidency
Magistrate under sections 6 and 18 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are for each of the Presidency towns.
A
Presidency
Magistrate exercises jurisdiction within the presidency towns for
which he is appointed and within the limits of the port of such town.
Magistrates of the first clilss are dealt with under sections 6, 10,
11, 12 and 13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and their powers
of sentence are dealt with by section 32 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure. Section 6 speaks of magistrates of the first class, Magistrates of the second class and magistrates of the third class. Section 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure speaks' of district magistrate in every district outside the presidency town. Section 12 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the State Government
to appoint besides the District Magistrate, Magistrates of the first,
second or third class in any district and fhe State Government may
from time to time define local areas within wbich such Magistrates
may exercise all or any of the powers with which they may be
invested under the Code. Section 12(2) of the Code of Criminal
Procedure enacts that except as otherwise provided the jurisdiction
and powers of such Magistrates sb,all t;xtend throughout such district. It therefore follows that the Magistrates of the first class of
a district have powers within defined local areas within the district
and their jurisdiction and powers may in certain cases extend
throughout such district.
The Magistrate at Delhi can in certain
cases exercise jurisdiction and power throughout the district where
he is appointed.
'
The words "Presidency Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first
class, as the case may" in section SA of the Prevention of Corruption Act indicate that a Presidency Magistrate refers to the Presidency town where he exercises jurisdiction and similarly a Magistrate of the first class refers to a Magistrate of the first class of a
district exercising power in that district.
A Magistrate does not
exercise jurisdiction throughout the length and breadth of India for
UNION V. B. N. ANANTl (Ray, J.)
465
purposes of Code of Criminal Procedure or of Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Code of Criminal Procedure defines the territorial jurisdiction of Magistrates.
It will not be in consonance
with the jurisdiction and structure of Courts of Magistrate to allow
A
B
an order of investigation to be made by a Magistrate of Delhi for
investigation of a case in the State of Assam. The reason is that
a Magistrate orders investigation in a case which he has power to
inquire into or try.
The real import of section SA of the Prevention of Corruption Act is that investigation is to be done by Police
Officers of a certain rank to ensure protection against frivolous
prosecution and it is only with the order of Presidency Magistrate
or a Magistrate of the first class that Police Officers below the rank
mentioned in the section are allowed to investigate.
It is therefore appropriate that Magistrates in Presidency towns or District C
will order investigation of cases within their respective jurisdiction.
The effect of section SA of the Prevention of Corruption
Act is that it is a special Act which confers powers on Presidency
Magistrates exercisable throughout the Presidency town and
Magistrates of the first class throughout the District where they
1:xercise powers under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Ordina1rily, Magistrates. of the first class may have defined areas within
the meaning of section 12(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure
but in cases governed by .section SA of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Magistrates of the first class will exercise jurisdiction
throughout the district irrespective of defined areas of their juris·
diction within that district by reason of section 12(2) of the Code
o! Criminal Procedure.
·
In the present appeals, the order of investigation made by the
Magistrate at Delhi for investigation of cases in the State of Assam
was not a valid and competent order within. the powers of the
Magistrate at Delhi. These orders of investigation are therefore
rightly quashed by the High Court.
The contention on behalf of the appellarrts that the order of
the Magistrate allowing the Inspector of Police to investigate was
proper and that he applied his mind is not required to be gone
into in the present appeals in view of the decision that the Magistrate at Delhi was not competent to authorise the investigation.
It is also not necessary to express any opinion on the other
contention as to whether sanction under section I 96A of the Code
of Criminal Procedure was necessary before the courts could take
cognizance of the matter.
We are of opinion that the order of the Magistrate at Delhi
is not a valid and proper order and therefore the investigation was
bad.
We need not express any opinion as to whether there should
be a fresh investigation. For these reasons, the appeals fail and
are dismissed.
G.C.
30-1 S.C. lndia/71
Appeals dismissed.
D
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