Appeals from orders under S.514 of the Cr. P. Code must be filed in the District Magistrate's court, not before an Additional District Magistrate.

1. This Revisional petition is directed against the order of a learned Additional District Magistrate of Hooghly dated 19th February, 1965, reversing the order of the learned Sub-divisional Magistrate dated 2nd January, 1965, by which the learned Sub-divisional Magistrate accepted the cause shown by the surety in a matter under S.514, Cr. P. Code. The Additional District Magistrate heard the appeal from the order of the Sub-divisional Magistrate and directed that the full amount of the penalty, namely, Rs. 2,000 was to be realised from the surety.

2. The matter was heard by Niyogi, J. sitting singly but he placed the matter before the Hon'ble the Chief Justice for making a reference to a larger Bench on the ground that the decision on the point of a Judge of this Court sitting singly was in conflict with the decision of a Division Bench of the Madhya Bharat High Court reported in Vallabhadas v. State of Madhya Bharat , AIR 1955 NUC (MB) 2096. The matter has now come up before us.

3. Sitting singly I held that although an Additional District Magistrate might have been duly appointed under S.10 (2), Cr. P. C. to be an Additional District Magistrate with all the powers of a District Magistrate under the Code, an Additional District Magistrate had no power to hear appeals under S.515, Cr. P. Code: Prafulla Kumar Saha v. The State , Cr. Revn. No. 121 of 1963 (Cal), (unreported). It was held by the Division Bench of the Madhya Bharat High Court, AIR 1955 NUC (MB) 2096 as follows :
"It is true that only the District Magistrate alone can entertain appeal under S.515. But there is nothing to prevent the Additional District Magistrate on whom the powers are conferred under S.10(2) from hearing an appeal under S.515 when such appeal is transferred to him by the District Magistrate. This is an ordinary power of the District Magistrate conferred by the Criminal Procedure Code and he can certainly transfer the hearing of appeal under S.515 to the Additional District Magistrate."

4. Now the appeal in the instant case before us was filed not in the Court of the District Magistrate but in the Court of the Additional District Magistrate, On the point of forum for filing the appeal there was no conflict between my decision sitting singly and the decision of the Division Bench of the Madhya Bharat High Court. I took the same view as the Madhya Bharat High Court did, viz., that the appeal was to be filed not in the Court of the Additional District Magistrate but in the Court of the District Magistrate. This revisional petition can be disposed of only on the short point that the appeal not having been filed is the right forum was not maintainable. Indeed S.515 makes it clear that an appeal from an order passed under S.514 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lies only to the District Magistrate. S.515 lays down :
"All orders passed under S.514 by any Magistrate other than a Presidency Magistrate or District Magistrate shall be appealable to the District Magistrate or if not so appealed may be revised by him."
Under S.515 appeals from orders passed under S.514 lie only to the District Magistrate and not to the Additional District Magistrate. Under S.514 orders may be passed by any Magistrate including an Additional District Magistrate and all orders passed under S.514 by any such Magistrate (other than a Presidency Magistrate or a District Magistrate) will lie to the District Magistrate. Of course no appeal will lie to the District Magistrate from an order passed by the District Magistrate himself or by a Presidency Magistrate. In terms of S. 515 an appeal can be filed in the Court of the District Magistrate only not in the Court of the Additional District Magistrate.
It is the District Magistrate alone who can entertain an appeal and not Additional Dist