TMI Blog2013 (6) TMI 926X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of 1999 and later on, it was numbered as Case No. 488 of 1999. The principal say of the complainant in the complaint is that accused herein, who is the I.O. in the above-referred case registered as I.C.R. No. 14 of 1999, was repeatedly making (monetary) demand by saying to the deceased that other accused have settled their account and account of deceased is yet not settled. It is alleged that P.S.I. was abusing and threatening the deceased. In other words and in substance, grievance is of extortion by P.S.I. It is further say of the complainant that deceased was disturbed and frightened on account of this and he has committed suicide. Criminal Case No. 488 of 1999 was committed by the Sami Court and same was registered as Sessions Case No. 426 of 2002. P.S.I. accused has filed an application for discharge (Exh. 5). Learned Addl. Sessions Judge, after hearing the State and the accused, was pleased to allow the application. The principal ground, inter alia, is that sanction for prosecution as contemplated under Sec. 197 of the Cr.P.C. is not obtained by the complainant. Hence, the accused deserves to be discharged. 2. Before referring to the finding of the learned Addl. Sessio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and broad. It was held that want of sanction is not a bar for prosecution. Allowing the States' appeal, it was held that public servant is not entitled to indulge in criminal activities, in that sense and to that extent, Section is required to be considered narrowly and strictly. In such cases, if it is established that act or omission was done by the public servant while discharging his duty, then scope of its being official should be construed so as to advance the objective of the said Section and in favour of public servant. It also held that if prima facie there is a reasonable connection with discharge of his duty, then applicability of Sec. 197 cannot be disputed. Plea of the public servant as to bar of Sec. 197 was rejected. (b) Stage at which it is to be invoked or applied: 3.4. In the case of Bakhshish Singh Brar v. Smt. Gurmej Kaur, AIR 1988 SC 257, dismissing appeal of the accused, it was held that both the Courts have rightly rejected the application of the accused. In that case, during the course of investigation, the complainant and others had received the injuries and on account of such injuries, one of the person had died. Relying on decision in the case o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the case of Pukhraj v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1973 SC 2591, an employee of Postal Department has filed a complaint against the superior alleging that superior had kicked him in abdomen and has abused him. On behalf of the accused, Sec. 197 was invoked. There, the accused had invoked Sec. 197 at earliest stage, i.e. upon lodging of the complaint. The learned J.M.F.C. was pleased to reject the plea, however, the High Court had allowed the same. The Supreme Court allowing the appeal in fairly short judgment has held and concluded in Para 3 as under: 3. We must also make it clear that this is not the end of the matter. As was pointed out in Sarjoo Prasad v. King Emperor, 1945 FCR 227 : AIR 1946 FC 25 referring to the observations of Sulaiman, J. in Hari Ram Singh's case (supra) the mere fact that the accused proposes to raise a defence of the act having purported to be done in execution of duty would not in itself be sufficient to justify the case being thrown out for want of sanction. At this stage, we have only to see whether the acts alleged against the 2nd respondent can be said to be in purported execution of his duty. But facts subsequently coming to light during the cour ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n. The High Court allowed the revision application of the said respondent. This Court on appeal held that at that stage, the Court was concerned only with one point, viz., whether on facts alleged in the complaint, it could be said that the acts were done in purported exercise of his duties. Applying the test laid down in the decisions of the Federal Court and this Court to acts complained of, viz., kicking the complainant and abusing, could not be said to have been done in the course of the performance of the duty by the said respondent. The facts subsequently coming to light during the course of the judicial enquiry or during the course of the prosecution evidence at the trial might establish the necessity for sanction, it was observed. This Court noted that it might be possible for the said respondent to place materials on record during the course of the trial for showing what his duties were and also that the acts complained of were so inter-related with his official duty, so as to attract the protection afforded by Sec. 197 Cr.P.C. This Court reiterated that the question whether sanction was necessary or not might have to depend upon from stage to stage having regard to the fa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... accused had filed an application under Sec. 482 of Cr.P.C. before the High Court invoking Sec. 197. The High Court had rejected the petition holding that to kill the person cannot be considered to be a part of his official duty. In appeal, majority was pleased to allow the appeal referring and relying on the earlier case-law on the point. Thakker, J. In his elaborate dissenting judgment, however, had agreed with the High Court and held that sanction is not necessary. 4. At the time of hearing, learned A.P.P. has submitted that learned Addl. Sessions Judge has seriously erred in allowing the application of the respondent, and therefore, the present Revision of the State should be allowed. During the hearing, R. P. was called for. The learned A.P.P. has drawn attention to relevant material from R. P. 5. Learned Advocate Shri Tirmizi for the respondent has strongly opposed the submissions made by learned A.P.P. It was submitted that learned Addl. Sessions Judge has given cogent and sufficient reasons in an order under challenge, and therefore, no interference is called for. It was also submitted that State has not successfully established the reason for interference in the o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mplainant alleges that at that time, he had objected against the false narration made in the Inquest Panchnama, namely, mentioning that death has occurred due to receiving of electric shock. The complainant alleges that his objection was ignored. He also alleges that he had asked the P.S.I. to sign the Inquest Panchnama which was also rejected by P.S.I. Then complainant had requested to allow him to meet other Jail inmates and this request was also rejected by the authority. The prisoners of the I.C.R. No. 14 of 1999 case wherein deceased and other accused were facing trial were transferred to Harij Sub-Jail. The complainant had given written application on 1-4-1999 to permit him to visit Jail inmates which was granted and it was at this time while talking with other prisoners, the complainant came to know about the alleged cause of suicide. 9. Thereafter, the present complaint was filed on 6-4-1999. It was duly verified before the learned Magistrate. The Court itself has conducted inquiry in the said case and during the inquiry, as many as 7 persons have deposed more or less on the same line. It is their say that P.S.I. was pressing for settling the account and the deceased Pab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fication of Jailer? One Shri Raval, who was Jailer in Sami Jail at the relevant time, was a Junior Clerk in Mamlatdar office and was temporarily placed as a Jailer of Sami Sub-Jail. At the time of incident, being Sunday, he was at his residence. It would be ignoring the reality to say that unless the necessary entry made in the Jail Register, no one would have access to the Jail inmates. 17. Points to be considered while considering applicability of Sec. 197 may be summarised, thus: (I) Its object is to prevent vexatious, obnoxious and frivolous prosecution against public servant. [Chaudhary Parveen Sultana's case, 2009 (3) SCC 398]. (II) It may be construed narrowly or liberally, depending upon facts of the case. Its construction would acquire colour mainly from facts of the case. [M.P. Gupta's case, AIR 2004 SC 730]. (III) Plea of sanction can be considered at any stage of proceeding in the sense that during the trial also. (Bholu Ram's case, 2008 (9) SCC 140). Further, as laid down in Centre for P.I.L's. case, AIR 2005 SC 4413, Sec. 197 does not get attracted immediately on lodging of complaint. (IV) Act would be covered under protection, if neglec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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