Krishnaswami Nayudu, J.-This revision petition raises a question of some importance regarding the venue of trials in criminal cases. The petitioner, a communist detenu in the Central Jail, Vellore, was charged along with others for alleged offences of causing simple hurt, etc., to the jail officials on 3rd August, 1949, within the precincts of the said jail while the jail officials were acting in the discharge of their official duties. As many as 23 charge sheets were filed against this detenu with regard to the alleged occurrence. In pursuance of a request by the Inspector-General of Prisons, Madras, that the trial of the petitioner and the other connected cases may be held in the recreation room of the Central Jail, Vellore, to which the public can be given access, the Government agreed to the proposal and directed the trial of the abovementioned cases as suggested by the Inspector-General of Prisons. The District Magistrate, after obtaining the approval of the High Court, Madras, issued a notice that the cases would be heard by him in the recreation room of the jail premises. The petitioner, thereupon, applied to the District Magistrate, North Arcot at Chingleput that the case s

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