A.L.DAVE, J. - Incarceration of an accused before trial or conviction is a most criticized shortcoming of the judicial system. The legislature also expects the under-trial imprisonment period to be minimum. With that view in mind, certain provisions have been incorporated in the Code of Criminal Procedure. One such provision is contained in Section 437 (6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short 'Code'), which runs as under:

“437 (6) If, any case triable by a Magistrate, the trial of a person accused of any non-bailable offence is not concluded within a period of sixty days from the first date fixed for taking evidence in the case, such person shall, if he is in custody during the whole of the said period, be released on bail to the satisfaction of the Magistrate, unless for reasons to be recorded in writing, the Magistrate otherwise directs.”

2. The language of the Section selected by the legislature makes it possible to have different interpretations and as a corollary, different Courts have taken different views. As a consequence, following questions have been referred to this Bench:

[i] Whether in a case triable by the learned Magistrate particularly of a person accu