Y. Abraham Ajith & Ors vs Inspector Of Police, Chennai & Anr on 17 August, 2004 - SC
Section 177 of the Code deals with the ordinary place of inquiry and trial, and reads as follows:
"Section 177 : ORDINARY PLACE OF INQUIRY
AND TRIAL:
Every offence shall ordinarily be inquired into and tried by a Court within whose local jurisdiction it was
committed."
Sections 177 to 186 deal with venue and place of trial. Section 177 reiterates the well-established common
law rule referred to in Halsbury's Laws of England (Vol. IX para 83) that the proper and ordinary venue for
the trial of a crime is the area of jurisdiction in which, on the evidence, the facts occur and which alleged to
constitute the crime. There are several exceptions to this general rule and some of them are, so far as the
present case is concerned, indicated in Section 178 of the Code which read as follows:
"Section 178 PLACE OF INQUIRY OR TRIAL
(a) When it is uncertain in which of several local areas an offence was committed, or
(b) where an offence is committed partly in one local area and partly in another, or
(c) where an offence is continuing one, and continues to be committed in more local areas than one, or (d)
where it consists of several acts done in different local areas, it may be inquired into or tried by a Court having
jurisdiction over any of such local areas."