High Court of Madras vs State

2022 INSC 228 REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS. 272-274 OF 2022 (Arising out of S.L.P.(Criminal) Nos. 1752-1754 of 2022 @ D.No. 2419/2022

Registrar General, High Court of Judicature at Madras …Appellant

Versus

The State, represented by the Inspector of Police, Central Crime Branch, Chennai & Another …Respondents

ORDER

1. Application for permission to file the special leave petitions is

allowed. Delay in filing the special leave petitions is condoned.

1a. Leave granted.

2. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned final

judgment and orders dated 05.08.2019, 27.08.2019 and 29.08.2019

passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras in Criminal O.P. No.

20889/2019, by which the learned Single Judge of the High Court has

directed to transfer 864 cases in which the final reports have been filed

before the concerned Special Courts for Land Grabbing Cases pending

in various districts and has directed the concerned Special Courts before

whom the final reports are filed to return back the final reports filed by

1 the concerned investigating officers of the respective police stations in

order to enable those final reports to be filed before the concerned

jurisdictional Courts, the High Court of Judicature at Madras through the

Registrar General has preferred the present appeals, being in a quandry

with regard to the implementation of the impugned orders though passed

on the judicial side.

3. The facts leading to the present appeals in a nutshell are as under:

That the State of Tamil Nadu issued G.O. (Ms) No. 423 dated

28.07.2011 creating 36 Anti Land Grabbing Special Cells in the State of

Tamil Nadu with one cell each at the State Police Headquarters, 7

Commissionerates and 28 Districts except Karur, Tiruvannamalai and

Nagappattinam Districts. That consequent upon G.O. (Ms) No. 423

dated 28.07.2011, Special Courts were constituted exclusively to deal

with Land Grabbing Cases. That the aforesaid G.O. was the subject

matter of controversy before the High Court.

3.1 By a common judgment and order dated 10.02.2015 passed in

Writ Petition No. 18872/2014 and other allied writ petitions, the High

Court has set aside G.O (Ms) No. 423 dated 28.07.2011 and G.O.(Ms)

No. 451, Home (Court III) Department dated 11.08.2011. While allowing

those writ petitions, the High Court has also observed that the State

Government is at liberty to enact any appropriate legislation on the lines

of A.P. Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982 or better legislations. The

2 common judgment and order dated 10.02.2015 passed in Writ Petition

No. 18872/2014 and other allied writ petitions is the subject matter

before this Court by way of Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 6050-

6078 of 2015.

3.2 That by order dated 27.02.2015, this Court, while issuing notice in

the aforesaid special leave petitions, stayed the operation and

implementation of the judgment and order dated 10.02.2015 passed by

the High Court. Meaning thereby, pursuant to the said interim order, the

aforesaid G.O. No. 423 dated 28.07.2011 and G.O. No. 451 dated

11.08.2011 are in operation and the jurisdiction of the Land Grabbing

Cases is to be continued with the Special Cell/Special Courts.

3.3 That, during the pendency of the aforesaid special leave petitions,

one, S. Natarajan, original complainant in Crime No. 434/2015 pending

on the file of the Special Court for Land Grabbing Cases No. II, Chennai,

filed Criminal O.P. No. 20889/2019 before the High Court, seeking

transfer of the said case from the Special Court to the Court of CCB and

CBCID, Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai. By order dated

05.08.2019, the learned Single Judge of the High Court has

allowed/disposed of the said petition and has directed the concerned

police officials to take back the final report from the Special Court for

Land Grabbing Cases No. II, Chennai and to file the same before the

CCB and CBCID, Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai.

3 3.4 That thereafter, on ‘mentioning’ made by the learned Additional

Public Prosecutor in the disposed of matter, being the aforesaid Criminal

O.P. No. 20889/2019, disposed of vide order dated 05.08.2019, a further

order dated 27.08.2019 came to be passed by the learned Single Judge

of the High Court directing transfer of other 82 cases pending on the files

of the Special Courts to the jurisdictional Courts. That thereafter, again

on a ‘special mentioning’ made by the learned Additional Public

Prosecutor in the disposed of matter being Criminal O.P. No.

20889/2019, the learned Single Judge by order dated 29.08.2019 has

directed transfer of 782 cases pending in the Special Courts to the

jurisdictional Courts. Orders dated 05.08.2019, 27.08.2019 and

29.08.2019 are the subject matter of the present appeals.

4. We have heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the

High Court. By the impugned orders, the learned Single Judge of the

High Court has directed transfer of the cases/final reports filed/pending

in the Special Courts exclusively to deal with the Land Grabbing Cases

to the respective jurisdictional Courts. It is to be noted that when the

learned Single Judge passed orders dated 27.08.2019 and 29.08.2019,

no proceedings were pending before the learned Single Judge. The

original Criminal O.P. No. 20889/2019 was already disposed of by the

learned Single Judge vide order dated 05.08.2019. The learned Single

Judge had become functus officio insofar as the aforesaid matter was

4 concerned. From orders dated 27.08.2019 and 29.08.2019, it appears

that the said orders are passed on the ‘special mentioning’ made by the

learned Additional Public Prosecutor. How such orders transferring

approximately 864 cases pending in different Special Courts in different

districts to the concerned jurisdictional Courts could have been passed

in a disposed of matter and more particularly when none of the parties to

the cases which are ordered to be transferred were parties before the

High Court? To pass such type of orders on a ‘special mentioning’ that

too, in a disposed of matter is unheard of. It is required to be noted that

the main Criminal O.P. No. 20889/2019 was with respect to only one

case, being Crime No. 434/2015 on the file of the Special Court for Land

Grabbing Cases No. II, Chennai and it was not a Public Interest

Litigation (PIL). Therefore, it is not understandable, how in a disposed of

matter with respect to only one case, further orders could have been

passed by the High Court transferring approximately 864 cases pending

in different Special Courts in different districts, that too, on a ‘special

mentioning’. The procedure adopted by the learned Single Judge for

passing orders dated 27.08.2019 and 29.08.2019 directing to transfer

864 cases from the Special Courts in different districts to the concerned

jurisdictional Courts is unknown to law. The practice of passing such

orders on a ‘special mentioning’ that too, in a disposed of matter is to be

deprecated. Therefore, under the circumstances, orders dated

5 27.08.2019 and 29.08.2019 being wholly without jurisdiction, are

unsustainable and deserve to be quashed and set aside.

5. Even otherwise on merits also, orders dated 05.08.2019,

27.08.2019 and 29.08.2019 transferring the cases/final reports from the

concerned Special Courts for Land Grabbing Cases pending in different

districts to the concerned jurisdictional Magistrates in different districts of

the State can be said to be in the teeth of the interim order passed by

this Court dated 27.02.2015 in Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 6050-

6078/2015. Once the judgment and order passed by the High Court

quashing and setting aside G.O. No. 423 dated 28.07.2011 and G.O.

No. 451 dated 11.08.2011 came to be stayed by this Court, the

jurisdiction of the concerned Special Courts to deal with the Land

Grabbing Cases continues. From the impugned orders, it appears that

the learned Single Judge of the High Court was aware of the pending

proceedings before this Court and despite that the impugned orders are

passed transferring the final reports/cases from the concerned Special

Courts to the jurisdictional Magistrates. Under the circumstances also,

impugned orders passed by the High Court dated 05.08.2019,

27.08.2019 & 29.08.2019 passed in Criminal O.P. No. 20889/2019 are

unsustainable and deserve to be quashed and set aside.

6. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the present

appeals are allowed. Impugned judgment and orders dated 05.08.2019,

6 27.08.2019 & 29.08.2019 passed by the learned Single Judge of the

High Court of Judicature at Madras in Criminal O.P. No. 20889/2019

directing transfer of approximately 864 cases from the concerned

Special Courts to the concerned jurisdictional Magistrates are hereby

quashed and set aside. However, the same shall be subject to the final

outcome and the decision of this Court in the pending proceedings being

Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 6050-6078 of 2015. All these appeals

are accordingly allowed.

7. Before parting with these appeals, we observe that the High

Courts ought to be mindful and conscious about the consequences of

passing orders such as those impugned in these appeals. Though the

powers of the High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal

Procedure are wide and are in the nature of inherent power yet, the said

power cannot be exercised suo motu in a sweeping manner and beyond

the contours of what is stipulated under the said Section. We hope and

trust that the High Courts would be more circumspect before passing

such orders which are impugned and set aside in these appeals.

………………………………….J. [M.R. SHAH]

NEW DELHI; ………………………………….J. FEBRUARY 23, 2022. [B.V. NAGARATHNA]

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