1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, APPELLATE SIDE NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 3663 OF 2009 Sachin Sarjerao Khawase Vs. State of Maharashtra Durgapur P.S.O. Chandrapur Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court orders or directions and Registrar's orders Court's or Judge's orders S/Shri A.A.Sambray & R. S. Subhedar Adv for applicant. Smt. I. L. Bodade APP for State. CORAM: C. L. PANGARKAR J. Dated: 22 nd DECEMBER, 2009. This is an application under Section 482 of the Criminal procedure Code. 2. Accused applicant was charged for having committed offence punishable under Section 354, 509, 506 of Indian Penal Code read with Section 3(1)(xi) of Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He was arrested by the police upon registration of the offence against him. He surrendered before the 2 Chief Judicial Magistrate and applied for grant of bail. The Chief Judicial Magistrate granted bail to the accused on 26.08.2009. Later the complainant moved the Chief Judicial Magistrate for cancellation of the bail granted to the accused applicant. She moved that application on 29.08.09. After hearing the accused and the complainant the same Chief Judicial Magistrate (Shri S. M. Belekar) cancelled the bail granted to the accused vide order dated 14.112.09 and took the present accused applicant in custody, since then he is in jail. 3. The present accused applicant thereafter moved an application before the Court of Sessions (Special Court) for grant of bail. The Special Court rejected the application on the ground that the applicant should first get the order of cancellation of bail and grant of bail passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate set aside. Feeling aggrieved by this, applicant filed this application for quashing these orders before this Court. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits before me that both the orders as were passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate were without jurisdiction. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes 3 (Prevention of Atrocities) Act says that all offences punishable under that Act are to be tried by the Special Court and Special Court is a Court of Sessions. Obviously when the accused surrendered before Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chief Judicial Magistrate should have taken into consideration the fact that the offence was triable by Special Court that is the Court of Sessions as constituted under the Atrocities Act to deal with his bail. Ignoring those provisions the Chief Judicial Magistrate proceeded to grant bail and even subsequently cancelled the bail . The learned Magistrate should not have done both of these things. Both orders are liable to be set aside and they are accordingly set aside. 5. Accused is in custody. An application was moved before the Sessions Court by the accused for bail but was not entertained. The Sessions Court was bound to entertain said application irrespective of the order passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate. When the matter was triable by Court of Sessions as a Special Court, jurisdiction lay with the Sessions Judge to decide the application filed by the present accused/applicant for having committed offences as stated above. Learned Sessions Judge failed to exercise the jurisdiction vested in him and therefore the order as passed by 4 him is liable to be set aside. In the circumstances the order passed by the Sessions Judge on 26.11.09 is also set aside. Sessions Judge is now directed to decide said application on merits within 15 days. 6. Sessions Judge is directed to obtain explanation from the Chief Judicial Magistrate Shri S. M. Belekar as to how and under what circumstances he granted bail to the accused in this particular matter, particularly when he was charged with an offence under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The said explanation be placed before the Hon’ble Senior Judge of this Court at Nagpur. JUDGE svk 5 6 7