JUDGMENT Kanhaiya Lal, J.
1. This is an application for the transfer of a proceeding pending against certain labourers under Section 2 of the Workman's Breach of Contract Act (No. XIII of 1859) as amended by Act No. XII of 1920. The employer is" a resident of Moradabad and carries on a stone ballast-business in Shankargarh in the district of Allahabad. He advanced' money to certain labourers and employed them for the purpose of working at Shankargarh. His complaint was that after working for a little while they disappeared. That complaint is, being inquired into by one of the Magistrates at Moradabad. The labourers are residents of Shankargarh and desire that the complaint should be inquired into in the district of Allahabad where the alleged breach of contract is said to have taken place. It is admitted that the advances were made at Shankargarh and that if any breach of contract took place, it must have taken place at Shankargarh too. The witnesses are all said to belong to the same place. It is, therefore, conducive to the convenience of the parties if the case is inquired into at Allahabad. It is urged on behalf of the employer that the Workman's Breach of Contract Act intends that such inquiry should be made at the place where the master or employer resides and carries on business. The Act does not, however, lay down the procedure which is to regulate such an inquiry. It is an inquiry by a Magistrate or a Criminal Court within the meaning of Section 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and although the object of the inquiry is merely to issue coercive orders and, if necessary, to enforce the same by a sentence of imprisonment, there is nothing to show that such an inquiry is excluded from the operation of Section 526 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The definition of " inquiry " given in Section 4, Clause (k), which includes every inquiry other than a trial conducted under the Code of Criminal Procedure by a Magistrate or a court, is not exhaustive so as to exclude an inquiry under the Workman's Breach of Contract Act of the nature above referred to. Any inquiry by a Magistrate or a Criminal Court subordinate to this Court can, therefore, be transferred under Section 526, Criminal Procedure Code, to any Criminal Court of equal or superior jurisdiction subordinate to its authority, if the requisite grounds set forth in the section are established. The balance of convenience is undoubtedly in favour of the transfer of the criminal proceeding from Moradabad to Allahabad. The application is, therefore, allowed and the proceeding transferred to tKe court of the District Magistrate of Allahabad who can try the case himself or send it for trial to any Magistrate subordinate to him who may be competent to try the same.