Judgment :- 1. The petitioner challenges herein the order of the Court of Session, Kozhikode confirming the decision of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kozhikode in respect of an application for certified copies of notes of deposition of the witnesses in S. T No. 155 of 1975 of that court. The Chief Judicial Magistrate rejected the application stating: "No notes of deposition copy of which is permissible." The learned Sessions Judge took the order to mean that there were no records of the substance of evidence of which copy could be given. The petitioner would contend that under S.264 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Court is obliged to record substance of the evidence and as such he is entitled to get a copy thereof Although the learned Sessions Judge would say that notes of evidence available, should be given, he di J not consider whether S.264 of the Code of Criminal Procedure casts a duty on the court to maintain notes of evidence. 2. S.264 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has undergone changes in recent years. The Section as it originally stood was as follows: "264(1). In every case tried summarily by a Magistrate or Bench in which an appeal lies, such Magistrate or Bench shall before passing sentence, record judgment embodying the substance of the evidence and also the particulars mentioned in S.263. (2) Such judgment shall be the only record in cases coming within this section." Evidently, the above provision did not contemplate that the court should keep a record of substance of evidence in cases which were not appealable. It was enough if the judgment embodies a substance of evidence and that too in appealable cases. R.325 of the Madras Criminal Rules of Practice directs that "copies of any portion of the record of a criminal case must be furnished to the parties concerned on payment of the proper stamp and the authorised fee for copying and where the judge's notes form the only record of the evidence, copies of these notes should be given." If S.264 (1) had remained as it was, the parties would have been entitled to get only a copy of the judgment in cases falling under the Section. 3. 3. S.264 underwent change in 1955 and the amended provision was as follows: "In every case tried summarily by a Magistrate or Bench in which an appeal lies, such Magistrate or Bench shall record the substance of the evidence and also the particulars mentioned in S.263 and shall, before passing any sentence, record a judgment in the case." As a result of the change the substance of the evidence became part of the records in all cases where the offence involved was such that an appealable sentence could have been passed. S.264 again stands amended in the new Code of Criminal Procedure, Act 2 of 1974 and the present section reads: "In every case tried summarily in which the accused does not plead guilty, the Magistrate shall record the substance of the evidence and a judgment containing a brief statement of the reasons for the finding." The provision as it now stands makes it obligatory on the part of the Court to record a substance of the evidence not only in cases which are appealable but in every case where the accused does not plead guilty. It follows that the substance of the evidence mentioned in the section forms part of the records and the parties are entitled to copies thereof. 4. S.263 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also stands amended under the new Code. S.263 of the Code of 1898 dealing with record in cases where no appeal lay specifically mentioned that a Magistrate need not record the evidence of witnesses. This provision is absent in the new Code. This also indicates that under the law now in force it is incumbent on the Magistrate to record the substance of the evidence as mentioned in S.264. It follows that parties are entitled to copies of the substance of the evidence. The order of the Magistrate refusing to grant copies of the notes of deposition on the ground that grant of copies is not permissible is unsustainable. The order will stand set aside. The petitioner will be given copies of the notes of deposition on payment of the fee required thereto. The petition is disposed of as above. Allowed.