The attention of Courts of Session and of all Magistrates exercising powers under Section 30 of the Code is directed to the terms of Section 59 of the Indian Penal Code. The correct mode of proceeding is to sentence the offender to transportation under the section under which the offence is punishable, mentioning at the same time that under Section 59 of the Indian Penal Code transportation is awarded instead of imprisonment, simple or rigorous, as the case may be. It is incorrect to sentence the accused to a term of imprisonment and then to direct that the imprisonment so awarded shall be converted to transportation under Section 59 of the Indian Penal Code. Use should be made of the provisions of this section whenever it is legal and suitable. It is illegal unless the punishment awarded for one offence alone is seven years or upwards; nor can a term of seven years or more be made up by adding two sentences together and then commuting the aggregate period of imprisonment to one of transportation.
