Offence of causing grievous hurt | A and B were performing a journey from Mumbai to Kolkata. Somewhere between Mumbai and Allahabad, an altercation took place… Can the Kolkata court try the offence of causing grievous hurt by A to B?

Question: Offence of causing grievous hurt | A and B were performing a journey from Mumbai to Kolkata. Somewhere between Mumbai and Allahabad, an altercation took place between A and B regarding the reservation of berth and A caused grievous hurt to B. Both A and B broke their journey at Allahabad and reached Kolkata by different trains. Can the Kolkata court try the offence of causing grievous hurt by A to B? Give reasons in support of your answer.

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Answer

Section 181 of CrPC provides under subsection (3) that the offence of theft, extortion or robbery, or the possession of stolen property which was the object of the offence can be tried by a Magistrate within whose jurisdiction either of the two offences is committed.

Section 183 of CrPC provides that when an offence is committed by a person or against a person or the thing in respect of which the said offence was committed, in a continuous journey or voyage, then that offence may be inquired into or tried in a court wherefrom the person or that thing was passed throughout the journey or voyage. This is also a case of extended jurisdiction. It confers power, in cases where the offence is committed by a person on journey or voyage, or against a person or in respect of a thing on voyage or journey, on the Court through or into whose jurisdiction the person or the thing passed.

In the case of Ganpat Nath Jogi v. the State of Orissa, 1995 Cr LJ 3680 (Ori) where the accused pushed the complainant down the running train within the jurisdiction of the Eluru Governmental Railway Police Station in Vijayawada district, but he was arrested within jurisdiction of Cuttack GRPS, it was held that since the occurrence took place in between Eluru and Chabrol railway stations, which comes within the jurisdiction of Vijayawada Magistracy, the Magistrate at Vijayawada had jurisdiction to try the case. It was observed that in Section 183 of CrPC, “may” indicates that it is not mandatory that the accused be tried where he ends his journey.

In Harish Tewari v. Vimal Kumar Singh, 1995 Cr LJ 3859 (P&H) where a quarrel took place on a running train between Shahjahanpur and Moradabad, and the accused got down at Moradabad, but the complainant terminated his journey at Jalandhar, where he filed the complaint against the accused, it was held that Jalandhar Court had jurisdiction to try the case.

In the present case at hand, Kolkata Court cannot try the offence. As per section 183,

when an offence is committed by or against a person in the course of a journey then the offence may be tried by a court through whose local jurisdiction that person passed.

In the present problem, the journey should be continuous from one terminus to another without interruption by either party and as both complainant and accused separated at Allahabad and reached Calcutta by different trains. So, the Kolkata Court has no jurisdiction to try the offence of grievous hurt caused by A to B.

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