TMI Blog1978 (2) TMI 193X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is court with the present petition. Accused 1 to 3 are the Sales Tax Officers. Accused 5 is the Sales Tax Inspector. Accused 4 and 6 are the peons in the sales tax department. 2.. The complaint of the present petitioners (the accused) is that the prosecution was launched by the respondent in contravention of the requirement of section 51 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (the "Act"). This section says: "51. Bar of certain Proceedings.-(1) No suit, prosecution or other proceeding shall lie against any officer or servant of the Government for any act done or purporting to be done under this Act, without the previous sanction of the Government. (2) No officer or servant of the Government shall be liable in respect of any such act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... all stop the vehicle or vessel at any place within a notified area when so required by the officer in-charge of that notified area, or at any other place when so required by any officer empowered by the Government in that behalf, for the purpose of enabling such officer to verify the documents required by subsection (2) of section 29 to be in the possession of the person transporting the goods and to satisfy himself that there is no evasion of tax ....." Counsel for the respondent Shri Joseph Augustine submits that the petitioners did not act or purport to act in the course of their official duties. It is, therefore, submitted that in so far as the petitioners did not act in exercise of their power or purported exercise of their power, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with the discharge of official duty. No question of sanction can arise under section 197, unless the act complained of is an offence; the only point to determine is whether it was committed in the discharge of official duty. There must be a reasonable connection between the act and the official duty. It does not matter even if the act exceeds what is strictly necessary for the discharge of the duty, as this question will arise only at a later stage when the trial proceeds on the merits. What we must find out is whether the act and the official duty are so interrelated that one can postulate reasonably that it was done by the accused in the performance of the official duty, though possibly in excess of the needs and requirements of the si ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o power to detain a person or to take him by force to any other place. In the present case, the respondent allowed the officers to verify the documents and there is no reason to suspect the bona fides of the respondent. That being the case, the power under section 29A did not enable the officers to detain or take him by force to Kalady. Even to claim that the officers purportedly acted under section 29A, it is their duty to show that there is a reasonable connection between their act and their duty. The petitioners have not been able to do that. In the circumstances, counsel contends that the prosecution cannot be stopped and the evidence should be allowed to be rendered by both sides in order to find out the truth of the matter. 9.. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hich are not in the vehicle, but are alleged to have been sold and removed in the course of transit, verification may have to be done (unless of course the entries in the bill books are accepted by the officers without question) with the alleged purchasers of the goods. 11.. It is in fact a verification of that type which was done by the officers in the discharge of their official duties. That being the position, there is no doubt in my mind that the act and the duty were so interconnected (whether or not the petitioners acted in excess of the powers under the Act) that the previous sanction of the Government in terms of section 51 was undoubtedly required. This was not done. 12.. Accordingly, the present petition is allowed, and the pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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