JAI BALAJI INDUSTRIES LTD. Vs. M/S HEG LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since the issues raised in all the captioned transfer petitions are the same, those were taken up for hearing analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment and order.

(2.) For the sake of convenience, the Transfer Petition (Criminal) Diary No. 24362 of 2024 is treated as the lead matter.

(3.) This transfer petition filed under Sec. 446 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter, "BNSS") read with Order XXXIX of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 is at the instance of a private limited company through its directors, praying for transfer of the Complaint Case No. RCT 2501046/2017 titled as "M/s HEG Limited vs Jai Balaji Industries Ltd. & Ors" pending in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bhopal to the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Kolkata. The transfer is prayed for on the ground that this Court, in Dashrath Rupsingh Rathod v. State of Maharashtra reported in (2014) 9 SCC 129 had held that cases where the trial had reached the stage of summoning, appearance of accused, and the recording of evidence had commenced as per Sec. 145(2) Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short, the "Act, 1881"), those should continue in the same court where the trial was ongoing.