Law: Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)

Section: 526, 185

Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898), S. 526 read with S. 185-Transfer of criminal cases-Jurisdiction-Transactions taking place at Lahore.-Criminal cases instituted at places outside appellate jurisdiction of Lahore High Court-High Court, held, has no jurisdiction to direct transfer of a case pending in a Court within jurisdiction of another High Court to its own appellate Criminal jurisdiction. Section 185 has been divided into two clauses. Sub section (1) is restricted to cases, where the two Courts, whose relative jurisdiction is in question, are subordinate to the same High Court. The contingency, where the two Courts are subordinate to different High Courts is now provided in subsection (2), under an entirely new procedure. Subsection (2), therefore deals only with those cases; where with respect to the same subject-matter, litigation is going on in two different Courts subordinate to two different High Courts. Then in that case, the High Court within whose appellate criminal jurisdiction, the proceedings commenced first, would be in a position to direct that the trial of the offender may be held in any Court subordinate to it. It has taken away the power from the High Court within whose jurisdiction the offender resided to transfer the case to its own jurisdiction from outside.                                                                                                                           ORDER A common question of law, whether a case pending in a Court outside the appellate jurisdiction of this Court, can be transferred to a Court within its jurisdiction, arises in Criminal Miscellaneous Petition go. 914 of 1971, entitled Ch. Sami Ullah of Shifa Medico, Lahore v. The State and Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No. 17/T of 1972, entitled Akhtar Hussain Bhutta, Proprietor, Nawabsons Laboratories, 188-Multan Road, Lahore v. The State. These two…