A Magistrate cannot commit a case to the Court of Session solely on the ground of his inability to award adequate sentence. Section 325 CrPC provides for the forwarding of cases by all Magistrates to the Chief Judicial Magistrates who are invested with powers to impose a sentence which may extend to seven years imprisonment.

MADHUSUDAN RAO, J.

( 1 ) THIS revision case is registered on a reference made by the learned Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Hyderabad, in Sessions Case No. 54 of 1979 on the file of his Court requesting that the committal of the case made by the IV Metropolitan Magistiate. Hyderabad, may he quashed.

( 2 ) THE facts leading up to the reference are : The Inspector of police, Chikkadapalli, Hyderabad, filed a Charge-sheet against three accused alleging that they participaieci in ihree incidents forming the same transaction and that they are liable for punishment under Sections 452 and 392 read with Section 34 I PC in respect of one incident, under Section 324 read with Section 34 IPC in respect of another incident and under Se. tion 392 IPC in respect of the third incident. It was requested in the charge-sheet that, in the evaqnt of conviction, the three accused may be bound over under Section 106 Cr. P. C. besides being sentenced appropriately. It was further mentioned in the charge-sheet that the first accused has 12 previous convictions to his credit and the last conviction was in a case filed in the year 1975. The case was filed in the Court of the IV Metropolitan Magistrate, Hyderabad. On the appearance of the accused and after furnishing the necessary documents to the accused, the learned Magistrate converted the Calender Case into a Preliminary register Case and committed the case to the Court of the Metropolitan Sessions judge, Hyderabad, being of the opinion that the crime is grave and that the offence alleged by the prosecution is one punishable with imprisonment which may extend to 14 years under the second part of Section 3g2 i. P. C. . When the matter came up before the sessions Court, the learned defence Counsel contended that the committal of the case to the Court of session was invalid and improper. After hearing the arguments on both sides, the learned Sessions Judge has referred the question of the validity of the committal to this Court being of the view that there is a conflict on the question in the decisions of the High Court.

( 3 ) THE Magistrate passed the order of committal in the exercise of the powers conferred on a Magistrate under Section 323 Cr P C. and relying on a decision of this Court in A K Joshi vs. State of Andhra pradesh (1) 1979 Cri L J. 63.

( 4 ) SRI B. Veerabhadra Rao, the learned Counsel for the accused no. 1 contends that the committal is bad in so far as the Magistrate committed the case only because he was of the opinion that he could not award adequate sentence and that, in such cases, he had to proceed only under Section 325 Cr P C. which is specifically enacted to meet such a situation. In support of this submission, reliance is placed on m. Agamma vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2) 1977 (1) APLJ. 376. Before dealing with the case relied on by the learned Magiarate and the other cases cited by the learned Counsel for the accused, it may be necessary to examine the relevant provisions in the Code: sec. 323:"if, in any inquiry into an offence or a trial before a magistrate, it appears to him at any stage of the proceedings before signing the judgment that the case is one which ought to be tried by the Court of Session, he shall commit it to that Court under the provisions herein before contained. "sec. 324: (1) Where a person, having been convicted of an offence punishable under Chapter XII or Chapter XVII of the Indian Penal code (45 of 186c) with imprisonment for a term of three years or upwards, is again accused of any offence punishable under either of those chapters with imprisonment for a term of three years or upwards, and the Magistrate before whom the case is pending is satisfied that there is ground for presuming that such person has committed the offence, he shall be sent for trial to the Chief Judicial Magistrate or committed to the Court of session, unless the Magistrate is competent to try the case and is of opinion that he can himself pass an adequate sentence if the accused

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