(Ranjan Gogoi, C.J. and Deepak Gupta, J.)
In Re: Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents
Suo Motu Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 1/2019, decided on August 2, 2019
The Order of the court was delivered by
Order
1. The matter has been taken up on a mention being made by the learned Solicitor General of India.
2. At the hearing, the learned Solicitor General has placed before the Court a communication received from the competent authority concerned of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), wherein it is stated that arrested accused in connection with R.C. No. 0062019S0012 of 2019 are required to be produced on remand before the Judicial Magistrate, C.B.I., Lucknow. Such of the accused who may be arrested in connection with the said case from time to time would also be required to be produced before the competent court. However, as this Court by its order dated 1-8-20191, has transferred the said case along with other cases to a court in Delhi, the Judicial Magistrate, C.B.I., Lucknow is facing the problem of jurisdiction and competence to pass orders on applications moved by C.B.I. in connection with the ongoing investigation and also to pass remand orders from time to time or such other orders in connection with the investigation as may be required.
3. The learned Solicitor General, therefore, has prayed that the transfer of R.C. No. 0062019S0012 may be postponed till the investigation is completed so as to enable the local C.B.I. court to pass order in connection with the ongoing investigation.
4. Having considered the matter, we are of the view that the prayer made ought to be acceded to. We, therefore, modify our order dated 1-8-20191, to the limited extent that transfer of R.C. No. 0062019S0012 of 2019 from C.B.I. court in Lucknow to the competent court in Delhi, shall remain in abeyance for the period during which the said case remains under investigation, which we have stipulated in the order dated 1-8-20191, to be completed in a maximum period of 15 days, preferably within 7 days.
5. The order dated 1-8-20191, is modified accordingly.
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1 Alarming Rise in Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents, In re, (2019) 8 SCC 300 : (2019) 4 SCC (Cri) 848
