Local jurisdiction of Judicial Magistrates
(1) Subject to the control of the High Court, the Chief Judicial Magistrate may, from time to time, define the local limits of the areas within which the Magistrates appointed under section 11 or under section 13 may exercise all or any of the powers with which they may respectively be invested under this Code :
Provided that the Court of a Special Judicial Magistrate may hold its sitting at any place within the local area for which it is established.
(2) Except as otherwise provided by such definition, the jurisdiction and powers of every such Magistrate shall extend throughout the district.
(3) Where the local jurisdiction of a Magistrate, appointed under section 11 or section 13 or section 18, extends to an area beyond the district, or the metropolitan area, as the case may be, in which he ordinarily holds Court, any reference in this Code to the Court of Session, Chief Judicial Magistrate or the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate shall, in relation to such Magistrate, throughout the area within his local jurisdiction, be construed, unless the context otherwise requires, as a reference to the Court of Session, Chief Judicial Magistrate, or Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, as the case may be, exercising jurisdiction in relation to the said district or metropolitan area.
STATE AMENDMENTS
MAHARASHTRA
■ Section 14A
After section 14, insert following section :
“14A. Investing Judicial Magistrates with jurisdiction in specified cases or local area—The High Court may invest any Judicial Magistrate with or any of the powers conferred or conferable by or under this Code upon a Judicial Magistrate in respect to particular cases or to a particular class or classes of cases, or in regard to cases generally, in any local area consisting of all or any of the districts specified by it in this behalf.”—Vide Maharashtra Act No. 23 of 1976.
COMMENTS
Definitions of local limits subject to High Court’s control – This section corresponds to the latter part of old section 12 and covers also Special Magistrates. The power to define local jurisdiction of Magistrates has been conferred on the Chief Judicial Magistrate subject to the overall control of the High Court which under the Code is the appointing authority for the Judicial Magistrates.
Chief Judicial Magistrate can take cognizance of any offence, committed anywhere in his district – Notwithstanding the fact that the Chief Judicial Magistrate has by a general or special order under section 15(2) read with section 14, defined the local limits of the area of jurisdiction of each Magistrate, and made rules or given special orders as to the distribution of business among the Judicial Magistrates subordinate to him, he does not thereby lose his own jurisdiction to exercise the powers of Judicial Magistrate of the first class throughout the district. That being so, the Chief Judicial Magistrate is competent to take cognizance of any offence, committed anywhere in his district, notwithstanding the fact that the area in which the offence was committed happens to fall within the local limits of the area assigned by the Chief Judicial Magistrate to some other Judicial Magistrate, subordinate to him, in accordance with the provisions of sections 14 and 15. Of course, taking of such cognizance by the Chief Judicial Magistrate would be possible only if the complaint or police report, as the case may be, is presented in his Court instead of being presented in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the crime might have been committed.—Mahesh Chand v. State of Rajasthan AIR 1986 Raj. 58.