Hiten P. Dalal vs Bratindranath Banerjee

The Supreme Court addressed the jurisdiction of the Special Court under the Special Court (Trial of Offences relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992, specifically interpreting Section 3(2) which limits jurisdiction to offences relating to transactions in securities occurring between 1.4.1991 and 6.6.1992. The Court held that the specified period qualifies the word 'transactions' rather than 'offence', thereby affirming the Special Court's jurisdiction over offences related to transactions within that timeframe. The appeal was placed before a 3-Judge Bench for resolution of contradictory observations in Minoo Mehta v. Shavak D. Mehta (1998) 2 SCC 418.