Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

Therefore, to my mind, considering the nature of the proceedings and the nature of the part played by the Civil Court in deciding the reference under Section 146, Cr.P.C., it is not possible to say that in that Court either a proceeding has been instituted or the same has been decided by it. That being so neither the analogy nor the provisions of the C.P.C. can support the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the value of the property has also to be considered in determining to which Civil Court the case is to be referred under Section 146 (1), Cr.P.C.

11. It would also be seen that under the provisions of Section 146 (1-E), Cr.P.C., the order of the Civil Court mentioned in Clause(1) of Section 146 shall be subject to any subsequent decision of a Court of competent jurisdiction". In other words, the decision recorded by a Civil Court under Section 146, Cr.P.C., cannot operate as res judicata and is subject to an ultimate decision of a Court of competent jurisdiction in a regular proceeding.

That Court may be a Civil Court of a Court other than a Civil Court. If it was intended by the Legislature that the Civil Court of competent jurisdiction contemplated by Section 146 (1) Cr.P.C., was a Court of full-fledged jurisdiction, both pecuniary as, also territorial, then the decision of that Court would not have been made subject to a subsequent decision given by another Court. It would be noticed that Section 146 (1), Cr.P.C., before the latest amendment, stood as follow s:

In the case of Ambler v. Sami Ahmad, ILR 37 Cal 331, it was held by the Calcutta High Court that an order passed by a survey authority was an order passed by a competent Court within the meaning of Section 146 Cr.P.C. (as it stood before the amendment). Similarly in the case of Surendra v. Emperor, AIR 1922 Oudh 300, it was held that the decision by a revenue Court was a decision by a competent Court. In Mt. Ram Sri v. Sri Kishun, AIR 1924 All 777, this Court took the view that an order of a revenue Court in mutation proceedings is the order of a competent Court within the meaning of Section 146, Cr.P.C. (as it stood before the amendment).

12. I have already said that by the expression "competent Court" occurring in Section 146 (1-E) the same Court is contemplated as the one by Section 146(1), Cr.P.C. (before the amendment). In some matters relating to land the revenue Courts alone are competent to decide and the Civil Court has no jurisdiction. In such a case the decision contemplated by Section 146 (1), Cr.P.C. would be subject to the decision by a revenue Court.

If the idea was that the Civil Court of competent jurisdiction contemplated by Section 146 (1), Cr.P.C. was a Civil Court with full-fledged jurisdiction, both pecuniary and territorial, then it does not stand to reason that its decision would have been made subject to the decision by a revenue Court or by a survey authority, by the Legislature After reading Section 146, Cr.P.C. carefully it appears to me that the "Civil Court of competent jurisdiction" contemplated by Section 146 (1) has been given an interior status to that of the competent Court contemplated by Section 146 (1 E), otherwise the decision of the former could not be subject to the decision of the latter, and the only conceivable explanation apart from the fact that proceedings under Section 146 (1), Cr.P.C. are of a summary nature for this appears to me to be that the competent Civil Court contemplated by Section 146 (1) is not a Court with full-fledged jurisdiction, i.e., it has only territorial and not pecuniary jurisdiction. The Patna High Court in the case of Bodh Narain v. Deo Narain AIR 1958 Pat 308, held that it is only territorial and not pecuniary jurisdiction which has got to be looked into while deciding as to which Court a reference should be made by a Magistrate under Section 146 (1) Cr.P.C. For the reasons given in this judgment. I am m respectful agreement with the decision of the Patna High Court The learned counsel his not been able to urge anything to justify the conclusion that the Civil Court of competent jurisdiction contemplated by Section 146 (1), Cr.P.C. is a Court having both territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction. I may add that if there are more than one Court having territorial jurisdiction it is open to a Magistrate to send the reference to any one of those Courts.