The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for proper jurisdiction, transfer of cases, and passing of judgments in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code.

1. The case was referred to this Court by the District Magistrate, Quilon for appropriate orders. The letter referring the case gives the necessary facts required for the disposal of the reference and it is reproduced below:

"I am forwarding herewith the original records in C.C. No. 601 of 1953 on the file of the Stationary First Class Magistrate, Kottarakkara and to inform you as follows:

"The Taluk Second Class Magistrate, Kottarakkara entertained the case as C.C. No. 118 of 1953 and after closing the prosecution evidence, framed charges under S. 457 and 380 IPC and finding that the accused has to receive a punishment more severe than that which he is empowered to inflict, forwarded the accused and the original records to the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Quilon under S. 349 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Sub Divisional Magistrate, Quilon filed the case as C.C. No. 69 of 1953 and subsequently forwarded the original records and the accused to the Stationary First Class Magistrate, Kottarakkara since a Stationary First Class Magistrate Court was established at Kottarakkara with effect from 1.4.1953 by abolishing the Taluk Second Class Magistrate's Court functioning in the locality. The Stationary First Class Magistrate, Kottarakkara on receipt of the records filed the case as C.C.No. 60 of 1953 on his file and disposed of the case on the first day of the hearing by convicting the accused and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of (1) one year. An independent judgment according to S. 367 of the Criminal Procedure Code has not been written up by the Magistrate.

"S. 349 of the Criminal Procedure Code creates an exception to the rule in that it provides that the magistrate to whom proceedings are submitted has to pass such judgment, sentence or order as he thinks fit. The jurisdiction to deal with proceedings under this Section is conferred upon the District Magistrates and Sub Divisional Magistrates alone and not to any other Magistrates. Further, a Sub Divisional Magistrate to whom a case is forwarded under this section cannot transfer it to a Magistrate who is not empowered to act under the Section. The powers vested in a Sub Divisional Magistrate under S. 192 of the Criminal Procedure Code are not applicable to proceedings referred to by a Subordinate Magistrate under S. 349 of the Crl.P.C. The action of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Quilon in transferring the case to the Stationary Magistrate, Kottarakkara and the disposal of the case by the latter is improper and illegal.

" I, therefore, request you to place the matter before the Honourable Judges of the High Court for appropriate orders by setting aside the order of the Stationary Magistrate, Kottarakkara. The accused is undergoing the term of imprisonment in the Central Prison, Trivandrum".

2. S. 349 of the Criminal Procedure Code allows a Magistrate of the Second or Third Class to submit his proceedings and forward the accused to the District Magistrate or Sub Divisional Magistrate, to whom he is subordinate, if he is of opinion, after hearing the evidence for the prosecution and the accused that the accused is guilty and that he ought to receive a punishment different in kind from or more severe than that which such Magistrate is empowered to inflict. The District Magistrate or Sub Divisional Magistrate, who receives the case, is to pass judgment after having due regard to clause 2 of the section. He can neither send back the case to the referring Magistrate nor transfer it to the file of some other Magistrate. There is no provision for the same in the Criminal Procedure Code. The cases reported in In re Sudalamada Kudumban (AIR 1942 Madras 281), In re Ponnuswamy Nadan ILR 36 Mad. 470, Empress v. Havia Tellappa (ILR 10 Bom.196) and Emperor v. Thakur Dayal, ILR 26 All. 344 have also taken this view. So the action of the Sub Divisional Magistrate in sending the case to the First Class Magistrate was against the provisions of law and henc