Judgment

D.P. Mohapatra, J.—Leave granted.

2. The question that falls for determination in this case is whether the special court which ceased to be a special court under the Essen­tial Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981, but continued as such under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 has the power to remand an accused who is implicated for an offence under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955?

3. The factual backdrop of the case leading to the present proceeding may be stated thus :

The three accused who are respondents herein were alleged to have committed offences under the Tamil Nadu Essential Trade Articles (Regulation of Trade) Order, 1984 read with Section 7(1)(a)(ii) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (for short ‘the EC Act’) in the year 2000. In that connection crime Nos. 3 and 14 of 2000 were registered against the said accused. They were arrested and remanded to jail. Two of the accused persons were produced before the area magistrate who remanded them to police custody and subsequently they were produced before the special court at Madurai who passed successive remand orders for their custody in jail. The third accused was directly produc