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10. Mr. Jethmalani referred to Section 407 of the Code which reads as under:

"407. Power of High Court to transfer cases and appeals.-- (1) Whenever it is made to appear to the High Court--
(a) that a fair and impartial inquiry or trial cannot be had in any Criminal Court subordinate thereto, or
(b) that some question of law of unusual difficulty is likely to arise; or
(c) that an order under this section is required by any provision of this Code, or will tend to the general convenience of the parties or witnesses, or is expedient for the ends of justice, it may order--

It was next submitted that the rule of `audi alteram partem' is applicable to transfer of any case to any court to which provisions of Section 407 of CrPC would apply. It was further submitted that since the power of transfer of a case is a judicial power, an opportunity of hearing should have been afforded to the appellant before exercising such powers and as the aforesaid notifications were issued without doing so, the said notifications were illegal, without jurisdiction and in violation of the principles of natural justice. It was further submitted that the expeditious hearing of cases is a concomitant of the principles of administration of justice and, therefore, the same could not be a valid criteria for transfer of cases and that also cannot be done in relation to one particular individual. It was also submitted that the trial held in the District Jail, Siwan cannot be said to be an open court and, therefore, there was violation of Section 327 of the CrPC as also violation of the right to have a fair and open trial.

(h) A trial conducted inside the jail premises, not being an open court, violates Section 327 of CrPC as well as Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

(i) Whether mention of the words `Civil Code' and `Civil Court' in the notifications issued by the State vitiates the notifications.

10. First of all, let me deal with the scope and ambit of the power under Section 9(6) and Section 11 of CrPC. Since reference was also made by the counsel appearing for the appellant to Section 407 of CrPC, it would be appropriate to extract the aforesaid provisions in order to appreciate the issues raised before us. Section 9 (6) of the CrPC reads as follows: -

Furthermore, a careful reading of Section 9(6) reveals that the second part expressly requires the Court of Sessions to afford the prosecution and the accused an opportunity of hearing and to obtain their consent beforehand. It is, therefore, not a case falling under second part of Section 9(6) but is a case falling under first part of Section 9(6) of CrPC.
16. Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant also contended that there was a "transfer" of cases pending against the appellant from the Sessions Court, Siwan to Jail Sessions Court, Siwan and as such there was a case of exercise of power under Section 407 of CrPC by the High Court which is a judicial power and thus compliance with the rule of audi alteram partem was necessary. In my considered view, the argument is entirely misplaced as Section 407 of the Code deals with the power of the High Court to "transfer" cases and appeals. The key word in this section is the word `transfer', which essentially consists of two steps: (a) removing a case or class of cases from the jurisdiction of the court where it/they is/are pending trial, and