Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Section 446
Power of Supreme Court to transfer cases and appeals
(1) Whenever it is made to appear to the Supreme Court that an order under this section is expedient for the ends of justice, it may direct that any particular case or appeal be transferred from one High Court to another High Court or from a Criminal Court subordinate to one High Court to another Criminal Court of equal or superior jurisdiction subordinate to another High Court.
(2) The Supreme Court may act under this section only on the application of the Attorney-General of India or of a party interested, and every such application shall be made by motion, which shall, except when the applicant is the Attorney-General of India or the Advocate-General of the State, be supported by affidavit or affirmation.
(3) Where any application for the exercise of the powers conferred by this section is dismissed, the Supreme Court may, if it is of opinion that the application was frivolous or vexatious, order the applicant to pay by way of compensation to any person who has opposed the application such sum as it may consider appropriate in the circumstances of the case.
Why this exists
Some cases raise concerns, like local bias, threats to witnesses, or security issues, that cannot be resolved by transferring within a single state's judicial system, requiring the highest court to move proceedings across state or High Court boundaries entirely. This is the apex-level counterpart to the High Court's own transfer powers, and it reflects section 406 of the earlier CrPC. The compensation clause discourages misuse of this extraordinary remedy.