Holding

Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code does not apply because the Special Court is not subordinate to the High Court, so the High Court cannot transfer a case from one Special Court judge to another.

Summary

The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a criminal case before the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) alleging conspiracy by Dhy An Investments and Trading Co. Ltd. The company sought transfer of the case from one Special Court judge to another, invoking Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The High Court directed the matter to a Division Bench, which ordered the application for transfer to be filed before the Special Court judge himself, leading to its dismissal. The Supreme Court examined whether the Special Court is subordinate to the High Court for purposes of Section 407 and whether the High Court can transfer cases between its judges. It held that the Special Court, though manned by High Court judges, is not administratively subordinate to the High Court, and therefore Section 407 does not apply. Consequently, the High Court lacks power to transfer the case, and the appeals were dismissed.

Issues considered

Whether the Special Court is subordinate to the High Court for the purposes of Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Whether the High Court has power to transfer a case from one judge of the Special Court to another under Section 407.
Whether the Special Courts Act is unconstitutional in the absence of a transfer provision.
Whether Articles 226 and 227 confer jurisdiction to the High Court to transfer cases between Special Court judges.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 4, s. 407, s. 6
Special Courts (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992s. 10, s. 11A, s. 5, s. 5A, s. 6, s. 7, s. 9

Subjects

Special CourtHigh CourtSection 407Criminal Procedure Codesubordinationjudicial superintendencetransfer of casesconstitutional validityArticles 226 227 235tribunal jurisdiction

Judgment

A DHY AN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD.
V.

CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION AND ORS.

JULY 31, 2001

B [K.T. THOMAS AND S.N. VARIAVA, JJ.]

Criminal Procedure Code-Section 407-Special Court (Trial of Offences
Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992-Sections 5, 5A, 6, 7, 9, 10
C and I I-A-Power of High Court to transfer cases of Special Court--Held,
Special Court is not subordinate to High Court-Hence, High Court has no
such power-Constitution of India-Articles, 226, 227 and 235.

Respondent-agency filed a Criminal case before the Special Court set
up under the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in
D Securities) Act, 1992 (Special Courts Act) alleging criminal conspiracy by
appellant-company· to cause unlawful loss to a finance company by sale and
purchase of the same securities within a period of two days at differing rates.
The Special Court had only two Judges. The case was listed before Justice T.
Chief Justice of High Court transferred the case administratively from Justice
T to Justice K. The appellant filed a Criminal application before the High
E Court praying for an order of transferring the case from Justice K to Justice
T. Single Judge of the High Court directed that the Criminal Application be
placed before a Division Bench. The Division Bench directed the appellant to
file an application before Justice K of the Special Court for transfer of the
case. Accordingly the appellant filed an application before Justice K, and it
F was dismissed. On the same day, the appellant filed an application before the
High Court seeking some darifications. The application was dismissed. Hence
the appeals against the said two orders of the High Court.

The appellant contended that the Special Court is a Criminal Court as
envisaged by the Cr. P.C. and that provisions of the Code applied to it; that
G Section 9 of the Special Courts Act deems that the Special Court is a Sessions
Court; that the Special Court is subordinate to the High Court since it is under
the superintendel)Ce of the High Court in its constitutional jurisdiction under
Articles 226 and 227 and so the High Court has power to transfer cases of
the Special Court under Section 407 of the Cr. P.C.; and that if it is held that
the Special Court is not subordinate to the High Court, then the Special Courts
H 80
QHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD. v. CB.I. 81
Act would become unconstitutional since there is no provision for transfer of A
cases from one Special Court to another.

The respondent-agency contended that the Special Court is manned by
sitting Judges of the High Court; that the sitting Judges of the High Court
take up matters pertaining to the Special Court and of the High Court; that
a conjoint reading of the various provisions of the Special Court Act would B
show that the Special Court is not a Court subordinate to the High Court;
that the High Court, though had judicial superintendence, had no
administrative control over the Special Court; that as per the provisions of
the Special Court Act, an appeal against the order/judgment of the Special
Court would lie to the Supreme Court and not to the High Court; and that C
the mere deeming provision in Section 9 of the Special Courts Act does not
make it a Court subordinate to the High Court.

Disposing of the appeals, the Court

HELD: 1.1. The High Court may have judicial superintendence over D
the Special Court under Article 226 of the constitution of India, however the
• High Court does not have administrative control over the Special Court under
Article 235 of the Constitution of India. Also the Special Court is manned by
a sitting Judge of the High Court. On occasions the same Judge also takes up
matters of the High Court. As per Section S of the Special Courts Act, if the
Judge manning the Special Court is absent or on leave, the duties could be E
performed by another Judge of the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice
of the High Court in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. It would
therefore not be in the fitness of things that for purposes of Section 407
Cr.P.C., a sitting Judge of the High Court, performing simultaneous duties
be deemed subordinate to the High Court merely because he is trying cases F
of the Special Court.

Thus the Special Court is not subordinate to the High Court and the
High Court would have no power under Section 407 of the Criminal
Procedure Code to transfer a case from one Judge of the Special Court to
another. Further there may be two Judges, but there is only one Special Court. G
In law, there is no power except administrative, to transfer case from one
Judge of the Supreme Court to another Judge of the Supreme Court er from
one Judge of a High Court to another Judge of the same High Court. The
position in respect of the Special Court is the same. (95-B, C, D; 96-A, E, Fl

In Re. : the Special Courts Bill, (1978] 2 SCR 476; l. Chandra Kumar v. H
82 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A Union ofIndia, fl997j 3 SCC 261; T Sudhakar Prasadv. Government ofAndhra
Pradesh and Ors., 12001j I SCC 516; State ofA.P. and Ors. v. K. Mohan/a/ and
Anr.. 11998] 5 SCC 468 and Mohamed Abdul Raoof and Ors. v. State of
Hyderabad, AIR 38 (1951) Hyderabad 50, referred to.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal Nos.
B 757-58 of 2001.
From the Judgment and Order dated 16.4.2001 of the Bombay High
Court in Crl. A. No. 809 of 200 I.

P. Chidambaram, P.M. Amim, P.P. Malhotra, Virag Tuljapurkar, Sandeep
C Jumarkar, Ravi Gandhi, P. Venugopal, P.S. Sudheer, Ms. Surekha Raman,
Raja Thakare, A. Mariarputham, P. Parmeswaran and S.V. Deshpande for the
appearing parties.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

D S.N. VARIA VA, J. Leave granted.

Heard parties.

These Appeals are against Orders dated 16th April, 2001 and 19th
April, 2001 passed by the Bombay High Court.
E
Briefly stated the facts leading to these Appeals are as follows:

Due to large scale diversions of public funds, belonging to banks and
financial institutions, to the individual accounts of certain brokers, the
Government first promulgated an Ordinance. Subsequently the Special Court
F (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992 was
passed. (This Act will hereinafter be referred to as the Special Courts Act.)
Under this Special Courts Act one Special Court came to be established. In
the beginning there was only one Judge. All civil and criminal matters, even
if they arose from the same transaction were before the same Judge. The
G same Judge had, in fact, tried both civil and criminal matters even though
they arose out of the same transaction or same set of facts. It is only because
the work load was found to be very heavy that the Special Courts Act was
amended in 1997, to enable appointment of more Judges. It is only thereafter
that there have been two Judges.

H In May 1995 Canbank Financial Services Limited (Canfina) filed a
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD. v. C.B.I. [S . N. VARIAVA. J] 83
Civil Petition No. 74 of 1995 before the Special Court, claiming criminal A
conspiracy to cause unlawful loss to them by sale and purchase of the same
securities within a period of two days at differing rates. Canfina claimed
damages arising out of the tort of conspiracy in a sum of Rs. 38,01,13,561.

In March 1998 CBI filed Criminal Case No. 2 of 1998 before the
Special Court alleging criminal conspiracy amongst the Respondents to cause B
unlawful loss to Canfina by sale and purchase of the same securities within
a period of two days at differing rates.

One of the two Judges of the Special Court i.e. Justice Kapadia disposed
of, after a lengthy trial, Petition No. 74 of 1995 by a judgment dated 17th C
January, 2001. It would appear that Special Case No. 2 of 1998 was earlier
before the other Judge presiding over the Special Court, Justice Trivedi.
Sometime in September 2000, Special Case No. 2 of 1998 was administratively
transferred by the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from Justice
Trivedi to Justice Kapadia.
D
The Appellants then filed Criminal Application No. 809 of2001 before
the Bombay High Court praying for an order transferring the case from
Justice Kapadia to any other Special Court. As there were only two presiding
Judges in the Special Court, in effect the Appellants wanted the case to be
transferred to Justice Trivedi.
E
On 5th March, 200 I parties made a mention in the Chamber of Justice
Kapadia that they had filed Criminal Application No. 809 of 2001. We are
told that the learned Judge was orally requested to withdrew from the case.
The Learned Judge rejected the oral request. The Judge, however, adjourned
the Special Case No. 2 of 1998 to 8th March, 2001. Thereafter on 8th March,
2001, the Judge adjourned Special Case No. 2 of 1998 to 19th April, 2001, F
indicating that unless a stay was obtained, Special Case No. 2 of 1998 would
be proceeded with.

On 3rd of April, 2001, a learned Single Judge of the Bombay High
Court directed that the Criminal Application No. 809 of 2001 be placed G
before a Division Bench of the Court as an important question arose. The
Chief Justice, therefore, assigned it to a Division Bench. Criminal Application
No. 809 of 200 I was heard by a Division Bench on 16th April, 200 I. By the
Order dated 16th April, 2001, (i.e. one of the impugned orders), the Division
Bench directed that a written application for transfer be moved before the
Special Court, i.e. before the Hon'ble Judge, Mr. Kapadia himself. With H
84 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A these directions the Criminal Application No. 809 of 2001 was disposed of.
Appellants then filed, in the Special Court, Miscellaneous Application
No. 168 of 2001 praying that Justice Kapadia may recuse himself from the
matter. By an order dated 19th April, 200 I, that application has been rejected.

B On the same date, i.e. 19th April, 200 I parties moved for some
clarification before the :::>ivision Bench and the Division Bench by its order
dated 19th April, 200 I has refused to issue any clarification.

Hence these SLPs against the Orders of the Bombay High Court dated
16th April, 2001 and 19th April, 2001.
c
In these Appeals we have not permitted parties to argue on merits. We
have confined parties to the question whether the High Court would have
power to transfer the case from one Judge of the Special Court to another.

Mr. Chidambaram submits that the High Court has such a power under
D Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Section 407 Cr.P.C. reads as
follows :

"407. Power of High Court to transfer cases and appeals. - Whenever
it is made to appear to the High Court-

E (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
F 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-
(i) that any offence be inquired into or tried by any court not
qualified under Secs. 177 to 185 (both inclusive), but in
other respects competent to inquire into or try such offence;
G
(ii) that any particular case or appeal, or class of cases or appeals,
be transferred from a criminal court subordinate to its
authority to any other such Criminal Court of equal or
superior jurisdiction;

H (iii) that any particular case be committed for trial to a Court of
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO LTD. v. CB.I. (S.N. VARIAVA,J.] 85
Session; or A
(iv) that any particular case or appeal be transferred to and tried
before itself.

(2) The High Court may act either on the report of the Lower Court,
or on the application of a party interested, or on its own initiative: B
...
Provided that no application shall lie to the High Court for transferring
a case from one criminal court to another criminal court in the same
sessions division, unless an application for such transfer has heen
made to the Session Judge and rejected by him.

(3) Every application for an order under sub-section (l) shall be C
made by motion, which shall, except when the applicant is the
Advocate-General of the State, be supported by affidavit or affirmation.

(4) When such application is made by an accused person, the High
Court may direct him to execute a bond, with or without sureties, for D
the payment of any compensation which the High Court may award
under sub-section (7).

(5) Every accused person making such application shall give to the
Public Prosecutor notice in writing of the application, together with
a copy of the grounds on which it is made; and no order shall be E
made on the merits of the application unless at least twenty-four
hours have elapsed between the giving of such notice and the hearing
of the application.

(6) Where the application is for the transfer of a case or appeal from
any Subordinate Court, the High Court may, if it is satisfied that it is F
necessary so to do in the interests of justice, order that, pending the
disposal of the application, the proceedings in the Subordinate Court
shall be stayed, on such terms as the High Court may think fit, to
impose: Provided that such stay shall not affect the Subordinate Court's
power of remand under Section 309.
G
(7) Where an application for an order under sub-section (I) is
dismissed, the High Court may, if it is of opinion that the application
was frivolous or vexatious, order the applicant to pay by way of
compensation to any person who has opposed the application such
sum not exceeding one thousand rupees as it may consider proper in
the circumstances of the case. H
86 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A (8) When the High Court orders under sub-section (I) that a case be
transferred from any court for trial before itself, it shall observe in such trial
the same procedure which that Court would have observed if the case had not ,.
been so transferred.

(9) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect any order of
B Government under Section 197."
..
It is thus to be seen that the High Court could only exercise power
under Section 407 provided the Special Court was subordinate to it.

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that the Special Court was a Criminal
C Court as envisaged by the Criminal Procedure Code and that provisions of
the Criminal Procedure Code applied to it. In support of his contention Mr.
Chidambaram referred to Section 4 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Under
this Section all offences under the Indian Penal Code could be investigated,
inquired into, tried and otherwise dealt with according to the provisions of
D the Code. He also referred to Section 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code,
which provides that besides the High Courts and Courts constituted under
any law, there would be in every State :- a) Courts of Session; (b) Judicial
Magistrates of the first class and in any metropolitan area, Metropolitan
Magistrates; (c) Judicial Magistrates of the second class and (d) Executive
Magistrates.
E
Mr. Chidambaram sought to further support his arguments from the
provisions of the Special Courts Act. In this behalf he referred to Sections 5,
6, 7 and 9 of the Special Courts Act. These Sections reads as follows :

"5. Establishment of Special Court - (I) The Central Government
F shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish a court to be
called the Special Court.

(2) The Special Court shall consist of one or more sitting Judges of
the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice of the High Court
within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the Special Court 1s
G situated, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of India.

(3) When the office of a Judge of the Special Court is vacant by
reason of absence or leave, the duties of the officer shall be performed
by such Judge of the High Court within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction the Special Court is situated as the Chief Justice of that
H High Court may, with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of India,
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD. v. C.B.I. [S.N. VARIAVA, J.] 87
nominate for the purpose and the judge so appointed shall have all A
the jurisdiction and powers of a Judge of the Special Court including
the powers to pass final orders.

6. Cognizance of cases by Special Court - The Special Court shall
take cognizance of or try such cases as are instituted before it or
transferred to it as hereinafter provided. B
7. Jurisdiction of Special Court - Notwithstanding anything contained
in any other law, any prosecution in respect of any offence referred
to in sub-section (2) of Section 3 shall be instituted only in the Special
Court and any prosecution in respect of such offence pending in any
court shall stand transferred to the Special Court. C
9. Procedure and powers of Special Court - (I) The Special Court
shall, in the trial of such cases, follow the procedure prescribed by
the Court for the trial of warrant cases before a magistrate.

(2) Save as expressly provided in this Act, the provisions of the Code D
shall, insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this
Act, apply to the proceedings before the Special Court and for the
purposes of the said provisions of the Code. The Special Court shall
be deemed to be a Court of Session and shall have all the powers of
a Court of Session, and the person conducting a prosecution before
the Special Court shall be deemed to be a Public Prosecutor. E
(3) The Special Court may pass upon any person convicted by it any
sentence authorised by law for the punishment of the offence of
which such person is convicted.

( 4) While dealing with any other matter brought before it, the Special F
Court may adopt sucb procedure as it may deem fit consistent with
the principles of natural justice."

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that Section 6 of the Special Courts Act
provides that the Special Court shall take cognizance of or try such cases as
are instituted before it or transferred to it hereinafter. He points out that the G
Section provides that all prosecutions in respect of offences referred to in
Sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the Act are to be instituted in the Special
Court and that if a prosecution was pending in any other court, it stood
transferred to the Special Court. Mr. Chidambaram submitted that Section 9
clinches the matter in his favour. He submitted that Section 9 specifically H
88 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A provides that the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code apply to the
proceedings before the Special Court and that for the purposes of the
proceedings the Special Court was a court of Sessions. He submitted that the
Special Court, having been deemed to be a court of Sessions and being a
criminal Court as envisaged under Section 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code,
B was subordinate to the High Court. He submitted that the Code of Criminal
Procedure applied to all proceedings before the Special Court, unless they
were inconsistent with the provisions of the Special Court. He submitted that
in the Special Courts Act there was no provision inconsistent with Section
407 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He submitted that Section 407 of the
Criminal Procedure Code applied and could be used by the High Court.
c Mr. Chidambaram submitted that if this Court were to hold that the
Special Court was not a Court subordinate to the High Court then it would
mean that there was no provision of transfer of cases from one Special Court
to another. He submitted that in that event the Special Courts Act would
become unconstitutional. Mr. Chidambaram submitted that attempt of the
D Court should be to interpret in a manner which did not make the Special
Courts Act unconstitutional.

In support of his submission Mr. Chidambaram relied upon the case of
"In Re the Special Courts Bill, 1978" reported in 1979 (2) S.C.R. 476. In this
case the constitutional validity of a Special Courts Bill was being considered.
E Mr. Chidambaram drew the attention of this Court to the provisions of the
Bill as reproduced in the Judgment and the provisions of the Special Courts
Act of 1979 which followed. (For the sake of convenience this Act will
hereinafter be referred to as the 1979 Act.) Mr. Chidambaram pointed out
that most of the provisions of the 1979 Act were almost identical to the
F provisions of the Special Courts Act. Mr. Chidambaram points out that the
Constitution Bench of this Court, consisting of Seven Judges, had while
considering the Bill observed that unless there was a provision for transferring
a case from one court to another the Bill would be constitutionally invalid.
He submitted that because of this opinion expressed by the Constitution
Bench, the Attorney General made a statement that the Government had
G agreed to incorporate a provision empowering the Supreme Court to transfer
a case from one Special Court to another. Mr. Chidambaram submitted that
pursuant to this Section I0 was incorporated. Section I0 reads as follows :

"I 0. (I) Whenever it is made to appear to the Supreme Court that an
order under this section is expedient for the ends of justice, it may
H
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD. v. CB.I. [S.N. VARIAVA, J.] 89

direct that any particular case be transferred from one Special Court A
to another Special Court.

(2) The Supreme Court may act under this section only on the
application of the Attorney-General of India or of a party interested,
and every such application shall be made by motion, which shall,
except when the applicant is the Attorney-General of India or the B
Advocate-General of a State, be supported by affidavit or affirmation.

(3) Where any application for the exercise of the powers conferred by
this section is dismissed, the Supreme Court may, if it is of opinion
that the application was frivolous or vexatious, order the applicant to
pay by way of compensation to any person who has opposed the C
application such sum not exceeding one thousand rupees as it may
consider appropriate in the circumstances of the case."

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that even though most of the other
provisions of the Special Courts Act are identical and have been copied from
the 1979 Act, a provision similar to Section 10 has not been incorporated in D
the Special Courts Act. He submitted that if this Court holds that Section 407
Cr.P.C. does not apply, there would be no other provision' for transfer and the
Special Courts Act would become unconstitutional.

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that another reason for holding that the E
Special Court was subordinate to the High Court was that the Special Court
was under the superintendence of the High Court in its constitutional
jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227. In this behalf he relied upon the
following observations of Chief Justice Chandrachud (as he then was) in the
case of "In Re the Special Courts Bill, 1978" :-
F
"One may also not be unmindful of the benign presence of article
226 of the Constitution which may in appropriate cases be inv.oked
to ensure justice."

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that this shows that the Constitution Bench
was of the opinion that the Special Court would be under the superintendence G
of the High Court in the jurisdiction under Article 226. He submitted that this
also shows that the Constitution Bench was of the opinion that the Special
Courts were subordinate to the High Court.

Mr. Chidambaram also relied upon the case of l Chandra Kumar v.
Union of India and Ors., reported in (1997] 3 SCC 261. In this case the H
90 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A question was whether the Administrative Tribunals, created under the
Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, were subject to writ jurisdiction of the
High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India. The
Constitution Bench of this Court noted, in para 12, that a person would not
be qualified for appointment as a Chairman unless, he is or had been, a Judge
B of a High Court. The Constitution Bench then held that the power vested in
the High Courts to exercise judicial superintendence over the decisions of all
courts and tribunals within their respective jurisdictions is also part of the
basic structure of the Constitution. It was held that the situation where the
High Courts had been divested of all other judicial functions apart from that
of constitutional interpretation was to be avoided.
c Mr. Chidambaram also relied upon the case of T. Sudhakar Prasad v.
Government of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. reported in (2001) 1 SCC 516. In
this case the Administrative Tribunal had passed an order punishing for
contempt. The question was whether under Articles 226 and 227 the High
Court had jurisdiction over Administrative Tribunals' functions under Section
D 17 of the Administrative Tribunals Act. It may only be mentioned that Section
17 of the Administrative Tribunals Act empowered the Administrative
Tribunals to punish for contempt of itself and vested in it the same jurisdiction
and powers as a High Court had. The question before this Court was whether
an order passed under Section 17 of the Administrative Tribunals Act was
E subject to judicial scrutiny by the High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of
the Constitution of India. This Court, inter alia, held as follows :

"The Administrative Tribunals as established under Article 323-
A and the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 are an alternative
institutional mechanism or authority, designed to be not less effective
F than the High Court, consistently with the amended constitutional
scheme but at the same time not to negate judicial review jurisdiction
of constitutional courts. Transfer of jurisdiction in specified matters
•
from the High Court to the Administrative Tribunal equates the
Tribunal with the High Court insofar as the exercise of judicial
authority over the specified matters is concerned. That, however, does
G not assign the Administrative Tribunals a status equivalent to that of
the High Court nor does that mean that for the purpose of judicial
review or judicial superintendence they cannot be subordinate to the
High Court. " (underlining provided)

Mr. Chidambaram strongly relied on the underlined observations and
H submitted that this judgment clearly lays down that the Tribunal was
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD. v. CB.I. [S.N VARIAVA, J.l 9J
subordinate to the High Court. Mr. Chidambaram submitted that the same A
would be the position of the Special Court.

Mr. Chidambaram also relied upon the case of State of A.P. and Ors.
v. K. Mohan/al and Ors. reported in [ 1998) 5 SCC 468. In this case a Special
Court had been established under Section 7 of the Andhra Pradesh Land-
Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982. In this case also it was held that the power B
of judicial review under Articles 226 and 227 and 32 of the Constitution were
an important check and were not taken away.

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that the above authorities clearly establish
that the High Court has superintendence over the Special Court under Articles C
226 and 227. He submitted that the Special Court is thus subordinate to the
High Court and that Section 407 would apply.

Mr. Chidambaram submitted that even if Section 407 of the Criminal
Procedure Code did not apply, the High Court could always exercise its
powers under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution. He submitted that the D
Appellant would then invoke that jurisdiction and apply for transfer of the
case from one Judge to another.

In support of his last submission Mr. Chidambaram relied upon the
authority in the case of Mohamed Abdul Raoofand Ors. v. State of Hyderabad,
reported in A.LR. (38) 1951 Hyderabad 50, wherein it is held that Article 227 E
of the Constitution was applicable to the Court of the Special Tribunal
constituted under the Special Tribunals Regulation and the powers of
superintendence conferred on the High Court were sufficiently wide to transfer
cases from one Special Court to another.

On the other hand Mr. Malhotra pointed out that the Special Court is F
manned by sitting Judges of the High-Court. He pointed out that there is only
one Special Court. He submitted that the sitting Judges of the High Court,
who man the Special Court, not only take up matters pertaining to the Special
Court but also on occasions take up matters of the High Court.

Mr. Malhotra also pointed out Section 5-A of the Special Courts Act, G
which reads as follows :

"SA. Where the Special Court consists of two or more Judges, the
Chief Justice of the High Court within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction the Special Coui-t is situated may, from time to time, by H
92 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001) SUPP. I S.C.R.

A general or special order, make provisions as to the distribution of
cases amongst the Judges and specify the matters which may be dealt
wit~ by each of such Judge."

Mr. Malhotra submitted that a conjoint reading of the various provisions
of the Special Court Act makes it ve;y clear the Special Court was not a
B Court subordinate to the High Court. He submitted that under Section 407 of
the Criminal Procedure Code mere judicial superintendence was not sufficient.
He submitted that what was required was both judicial and administrative
subordination. He submitted that the Special Court could only be subotdinate
to the High Court if the High Court had both judicial as well as administrative
C control of the Special Court. He submitted that it was clear that the High
Court had no administrative control over the Special Court.

Mr. Malhotra also relied upon Section 11-A and submitted that Section
11-A showed that the Special Court was in fact equivalent to the High Court.
He further pointed out that Section 10 of the Special Courts Act provided that
D an Appeal, even from an interlocutory order of the Special Court, would lie
only to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Malhotra further submitted that Section 9 of the Special Courts Act
merely provided that Special Court would be deemed to be a Court of Session
for the purposes of the proceedings before that Court. He submitted that for
E the purposes of criminal proceedings before it the Special Court may be
deemed to be a Court of Session but that did not make it a Court subordinate
to the High Court.

We have heard the parties. In our view the submissions of Mr.
Chidambaram, that the Special Court is a Court subordinate to the High
F Court, cannot be accepted. The authorities in the case of "Re The Special
Courts Bill, 1978", instead of supporting Mr. Chidambaram, is entirely against
him. On a question from Court, it was fairly admitted by Mr. Chidambaram
that in the entire judgment there was no reference to Section 407 of the
Criminal Procedure Code. It is impossible to believe that seven eminent
G Judges of this Court were not aware or had lost sight of Section 407 of the
Criminal Procedure Code. Many of those Special Courts were being established
in Delhi. As pointed out by Mr. Chidambaram it was held that if there was
no power to transfer then the Bill would be unconstitutional. Had those
Courts were subordinate to the High Court Section 407 would have applied.
Then the question of incorporating a provision of transfer wou Id not have
H arisen. It is clear that the Court proceeded on the footing that Section 407 did
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO. LTD. v. C.B.I. [S.N. VARIAVA, J.] 93
not apply because the Special Courts were not subordinate to the High Court. A
That the Court proceeded on the footing that the Special Courts were not
subordinate to the High Court is very clear from the observations made by
Justice Shinghal, J. who delivered a separate minority judgment. In this
judgment after considering the various constitutional provisions he inter alia,
observed that the High Court had been vested with all the necessary jurisdiction B
and powers to stand out as the repository of all judicial authority within the
State and that it was not contemplated by the Constitution that any civil or
criminal court in the State should be outside its control. Justice Shinghal in
his minority judgment then goes on to hold that Clauses 5 and 7 of the Bill
(by which Special Courts are created and sitting Judges of the High Court are
appointed) are unconstitutional. Thus the single Judge is holding that there C
could be no Court in the State over which the High Court had no control.
Such a view could only be taken if the Court was proceeding on the footing
that the Special Courts were not subordinate to or under the control of the
High Court. Of course this view is not accepted by the majority, who hold
that the provisions are constitutionally valid. But in this behalf also the
following observations of Justice Chandrachud, made on behalf of majority, D
are very relevant :

"It is true that the Special Courts created by the Bill will not have .
the Constitutional status which High Courts have because such courts
are not High Courts as envisaged by the Constitution. Indeed, there E
can but be one High Court only. for each State, though two or more
States or two or more States and a union territory can have a common
High Court. It is also true to say that the Special Courts are not
District Courts within the meaning of article 235, with the result that
the control over them will not be vested in any High Court. But we
do not accept that by reason of these considerations, the creation of F
Special Courts is calculated to damage or destroy the constitutional
safeguards of judicial independence. Our reasons for this view will
become clearer after we deal with the questions arising under articles
14 an·d 21 but suffice it to say at this stage that the provision in clause
I 0(1) of the Bill for an appeal to the Supreme Court from every
judgment and order of a Special Court and the provision for transfer G
of a case from one Special Court to another (which the Bill does not
contain but without which, as we will show, the Bill will be invalid)
are or will be enough to ensure the independence of Special Courts.
Coupled with that will be the consideration, as we wiil in course of
our judgment point out that only sitting judges of the High Courts H
94 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A shall have to be appointed to the Special Courts. A sitting judge of
the High Court, though appointed to the Special Court, will carry
with him his constitutional status, rights, privileges and obligations.
There is no reason to apprehend that the mere change of venue will
affect his sense of independence or lay him open to the influence of
the executive."
B
These observations show that the Special Courts were not a High Court.
At the same time they are not District Courts within the meaning of Article
235. This shows that the control over Special Courts does not vest in the
High Court. This judgment notes therefore, that Special Court not being a
C District Court, High Court would have no control over it. But the majority
accepts that the creation of such a Court does not destroy the constitutional
safeguards of judicial independence.

That the Special Court is not subordinate to the High Court is also very
clear from the case of T. Sudhakar Prasad (supra), referred to by Mr.
D Chidambaram. In this case this Court has held as follows :

"18. Subordination of Tribunals and courts functioning within the
•
territorial jurisdiction of a High Court can be either judicial or
administrative or both. The power of superintendence exercised by
the High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution is judicial
E superintendence and not administrative superintendence, such as one
which vests in the High Court under Article 235 of the Constitution
over subordinate courts. Vide para 96 of l. Chandra Kumar case
(supra) the Constitution Bench did not agree with the suggestion that
the Tribunals be made subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the
High Courts within whose territorial jurisdiction they fall, as our
F constitutional scheme does not require that all adjudicatory bodies
which fall within the territorial jurisdiction of any High Court should
be subject to its supervisory jurisdiction. Obviously, the supervisory
jurisdiction referred to by the Constitution Bench in para 96 of the
judgment is the supervision of the administrative functioning of the
G Tribunals as is spelt out by discussion made in paras 96 and 97 of the
judgment.

19. Jurisdiction should not be confused with status and
subordination. Parliament was motivated to create new adjudicatory
fora to provide new, cheap and fast-track adjudicatory systems and
H permitting them to function by tearing off the conventional shackles
DHYAN INVESTMENTS AND TRADING CO LTD. v. C.B.I [S.N. VARIAVA, J] 95
of the strict rule of pleadings, strict rule of evidence, tardy trials, A
three/four-tier appeals, endless revisions and reviews - creating hurdles
in the fast flow of the stream of justice." (emphasis supplied)

Thus from this judgment it is clear that only judicial superintendence
is envisaged under Articles 226 and 227. There is no administrative control ,
or superintendence. The High Court does not have administrative control B
over the Special Court under Article 235 of the Constitutio~ of India.

Also to be noted that the Special Court is manned by a sitting Judge of
the High Court. On occasions the same Judge also takes up matters of the
High Court. Also Section 5 provides that if the Judge manning the Special
Court is absent or on leave the duties could be performed by another Judge C
of the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice of the High Court in
consultation with the Chief Justice of India. It would therefore not be in the
fitness of things that for purposes of Section 407 9rimiRal Procedure Code,
a sitting Judge of the High Court, performing simultaneous duties be deemed
subordinate to the High Court merely because he is trying cases of the Special D
Court.

In this view of the matter we hold that the Special Court is not
subordinate to the High Court and that the High Court would have no power
under Section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code to transfer a case from
one Judge of the Special Court to another. E
There is a further and greater difficulty in the Appellants' way. In the
present case there is only one Special Court. There may be two Judges
presiding over the Special Court but that there still is only one Special Court.

As already stated above that Special Court is not subordinate to the F
High Court. What the Appellants are desirous of is transfer from one Judge
of the Special Court to another Judge of the Special Court. On a question
from Court, as to whether there is any provision in law which empowered
any Court to transfer a case from one Judge of the Supreme Court to another
Judge of the Supreme Court or from one Judge of the High Court to another G
Judge of the High Court, Mr. Chidambaram fairly conceded that there was
no such power and that the only approach would be either to make an
application before the concerned Judge to recuse himself or to administratively
apply either to the Chief Justice of India (in the case of Supreme Court) or
to the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. He added that there have
been cases where this Court whilst disposing of an SLP or an Appeal has, H
I
96 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A whilst remanding the matter, directed that the same be placed before some
other Judge. He however fairly conceded that such directions were not pursuant
to any power to transfer. In our view this .is an identical situation. It is for
that reason that Section I0, which had been incorporated in the 1979 Act was
advisedly not incorporated in the Special Courts Act.

B In this Appeal we are not concerned with the question whether the
High Court would have judicial superintendence under Article 226 and/or
227 and/or whether in exercise of such jurisdiction, even if there is one,
whether a High Court would or could transfer a case from one Judge to
another. We therefore express no opinion thereon.
c In this view of the matter, we hold that Section 407 Cr.P.C. does not
apply. We see no reason to interfere with the impugned Orders.

The Appeals stand disposed of accordingly. There shall be no Order as
to costs.
D B.S. Appeals disposed of.