Section 186

In any trial before a Magistrate’s Court in which it appears at any stage of the proceedings that from any cause the case is one which the Magistrate’s Court is not competent to try or one which in the opinion of that Court ought to be tried by a District Court or by the High Court, or if before or during the trial application is made by the Public Prosecutor, the Court shall stay proceedings and transfer the case to a District Court or proceed under Chapter XVII with a view to the committal of the accused for trial by the High Court and shall record its order on the proceedings.

In any trial before a District Court in which it appears at any stage of the proceedings that from any cause the case is one which the District Court is not competent to try or one which in the opinion of that Court ought to be tried by the High Court, or if before or during the trial application is made by the Public Prosecutor, the Court shall stay proceedings and order the accused to be brought before a Magistrate’s Court with a view to his committal for trial by the High Court and shall record its order on the proceedings.

The powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2), other than the power of a Magistrate’s Court to transfer a case to a District Court, shall not be exercised except upon the application as aforesaid or with the consent of the Public Prosecutor.

If in a trial before a Magistrate’s Court or a District Court the accused, when charged, has refused to plead or has not pleaded or has claimed to be tried, and no further step has been taken in the proceedings, the Court may, if it thinks fit, stay the proceedings and transfer the case to another Magistrate’s Court or District Court, as the case may be, and shall record its order on the proceedings. [185