JURISDICTION OF THE CRIMINAL COURTS IN INQUIRES AND TRIAL (Ss. 177 – 189) Part-II

Introduction

• Section 177 contains the basic rule of this chapter, the court in whose local jurisdiction the offecnce takes place shall have the power to try the matter.
• The subsequent section i.e., Ss. 178 – 188 enlarge the ambit of the ‘local jurisdiction’.
• It is intended to minimize the inconvenience that might be caused by strict adherence to the basic rule contained u/s. 177.
• It is further intended to facilitate the prosecution of offenders by providing a wider choice of Courts for initiating the inquiry or trial.
• It is to be noted that an accused has no vested right to be tried by a particular Court or procedure.

Sec. 181 – Place of trial in case of certain specific cases

Being a Thug, Dacoity, Escaping from Custody (Sub. Sec. 1)

181(1) includes the following:

1. Being a thug
2. Murder by a thug
3. Dacoity
4. Dacoity with murder
5. Gang of dacoits
6. Escaping from custody

• This rule is intended to cover the case of an accused moving from one local area to another area.
• It refers to the alternative jurisdiction as to the place where the accused person is found.

Kidnapping and Abduction

 Where a girl was kidnapped from Delhi and a case was registered and the victim was brought to Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Police cannot refuse to Register the case.

Theft, Extortion, Robbery

•  The offence of theft,
• extortion or robbery, or
• the possession of stolen property which was the object of the offence
• can be tried by a Magistrate within whose jurisdiction either of the two offences is committed.

Criminal misappropriation, Criminal breach of trust

 The following Court will have the Jurisdiction to try the offence of criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust:

1. Where the act constituting the offence took place
2. Where the property is found

Sec. 182 – Offences committed by letters, Cheating, Bigamy

Cheating – S.182(1)

• Section 182 contemplates the commission of offence of cheating by the following means:

1. By means of letters or telecommunication
2. By dishonestly inducing delivery of property

• First By means of letters or telecommunication – Where an offence which includes cheating is practiced by means of letters of telecommunication messages the case can be inquired into and tried either by:

1. The Magistrate from whose jurisdiction such letter or message originated; or
2. The Magistrate in whose jurisdiction they were received.

• Second By dishonestly inducing delivery of property – Where an offence of cheating is practiced by inducing delivery of property, the cases can be inquired or tried by:

1.  The Magistrate where such property is delivered; or
2.  The Magistrate in whose jurisdiction the property is received.

Bigamy – S.182(2)

The following Courts will have the jurisdiction to inquire and try the case in the case of Bigamy:

1. In whose jurisdiction, the offence is committed i.e., the second marriage is entered into during sustenance of the first marriage.
2. In whose jurisdiction, the offender last-resided.

 Sec. 183 – Offences committed on journey or voyage

• In cases where the offences are committed on a voyage or during a journey, it might get difficult to ascertain the exact place/local limits of the jurisdiction where the offence was actually committed.
• Therefore Sec. 183 is intended to give various alternatives.
• The journey or voyage does not include a voyage on high seas or in foreign territory.
• The journey or voyage shall be continuous and uninterrupted.
• Generally, in such cases, the Court where the journey or voyage terminates shall be the place of trial or inquiry.

Sec. 184 –Place of trial for offences triable together

The Court may inquire into and try the following offences or several persons together:

1. If the offences committed by any person are such that they can be charged with and tried at one trial, in consonance of the provisions u/s. 219, 220, or 221 CrPC.
2. If the offence is committed by several persons are such that they may be charged with, and tried together by virtue of the provisions of Section 223 CrPC.

Sec. 185 – Power to order cases to be tried in different sessions divisions

• This Section confers extraordinary powers on the State Government to order cases or class of cases to be tried in any sessions divisions.
• Such power of the State Government shall be exercised in a way that it is not repugnant to any direction previously issued by the High Court or the Supreme Court under the Constitution.
• For instance, where the State Government has set up a Special Court for the trial of cases investigated by CBI all over the State, only the Special Court has jurisdiction to try such cases.

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