Magistrate's discretion under Section 209 CrPC includes independent scrutiny before committing a Section 307 case to Sessions.

Section 209 CrPC requires the Magistrate to apply judicial mind to the police report and material before committing a case to the Court of Session. A report alleging an offence under Section 307 IPC is not conclusive by itself; the Magistrate may examine whether the offence is in fact exclusively triable by the Court of Session. Where the material shows only simple injuries and no prima facie session-triable case, the Magistrate may proceed as a warrant case and refuse commitment. The police label does not bind the Magistrate, and the earlier precedent cited did not remove this discretion.

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Issues: Whether, on a police report alleging an offence under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code, the Magistrate is bound to commit the case to the Court of Session under Section 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, or whether the Magistrate may independently examine whether the offence is exclusively triable by the Court of Session.

Analysis: The word "appears" in Section 209 requires the Magistrate to apply judicial mind to the material before him and form his own view on whether the offence is exclusively triable by the Court of Session. The police report is not conclusive, and the Magistrate is not to act mechanically on the label given by the investigating agency. Where the injuries are simple and the material does not disclose a prima facie case exclusively triable by the Court of Session, the Magistrate may proceed with the case as a warrant case and decline commitment. The earlier decision relied upon did not curtail this discretion.

Conclusion: The Magistrate had jurisdiction to refuse commitment, and the Sessions Judge's direction to commit the case was / unsustainable in law.

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