This is a Criminal Reference by the Sessions Judge of Poonch recommending that the sentence passed against the .applicants in this case may be set aside because they have not been legally tried.

It would appear that the applicants were put on their trial for an offence under the Motor Vehicles Act and were convicted. Under section 17 of the Motor Vehicle Act all offences punishable under the Act are to be tried summarily. That section also provides the class of Magistrates that shall try such cases and they are "no Court inferior to that of a, Magistrate of the 2nd class. The cases were tried by the Magistrate of the first class, Mendar. The learned Sessions Judges argument is that under section 260, Criminal Procedure Code, a Magistrate has to be specially empowered for trying cases summarily and that the Magistrate who tried these cases was not so specially empowered. There is a fallacy in this argument. Every Magistrate is not required to be specially empowered to try cases summarily ; nor does section 260 govern offences under the Motor Vehicles Act. Section 260, Criminal Procedure Code, enumerates the kind of cases that have to be tried summarily. Offences under the Motor Vehicles Act do not appear in that list. Besides, even for offences enumerated under section 260 the District Magistrate need not be specially empowered. The Motor Vehicles Act is a self contained" Act and it provides the procedure and the agency for the trial of cases under it. It is, therefore, not open to import for the trial of offences under the Motor Vehicles Act the provisions of section 260 Criminal Procedure Code, which is a special provision for the trial of offences mentioned in that section. The general rules of criminal procedure apply to special Acts only to the extent that provision is not made in these special Acts and not otherwise. In these circumstances I am not in agreement with the view of the learned Sessions Judge of Poonch and find myself unable to accept his recommendation. Let the record be sent back.

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