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Surinderjit Singh Mand & Anr. v. State of Punjab & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 565 of 2016)Decided 5 Jul 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 565 of 2016
Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

Two Deputy Superintendents of Police in Punjab were accused by the mother of a young man of having illegally detained her son for four to five days in 1999 before his formal, lawful arrest. Although two police inquiries cleared the officers, a later inquiry by a judicial officer led to a fresh FIR, and although the two appellants were not initially chargesheeted, the complainant successfully applied under Section 319 CrPC to have the trial court summon them to face trial as additional accused. The officers challenged this, arguing that no prosecution could proceed against them without prior government sanction under Section 197 CrPC (which protects public servants from being prosecuted for acts done in the discharge of official duty), and their challenge was rejected first by the trial court and then by the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that, as a general legal principle, the requirement of sanction under Section 197 CrPC applies irrespective of whether a court takes cognizance in the ordinary manner or by summoning an accused under Section 319 CrPC: sanction remains a mandatory pre-requisite either way. However, on the specific facts, the Court found that the alleged illegal detention (for the disputed extra four to five days, from 24.06.1999 to 28.06.1999, before the officially recorded arrest) could not be said to have occurred "while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duties," since the appellants did not even claim to have had custody of the young man during that period. Applying the Supreme Court's earlier precedent (the P.P. Unnikrishnan case), it held that sanction was therefore not required for this particular allegation, and endorsed the High Court's conclusion to that effect. Finding no merit in the appeal, the Court dismissed it and upheld the order allowing the appellants to be tried.

Lesson Learnt

The protective shield of requiring government sanction before prosecuting a public servant only covers acts genuinely done, or purportedly done, in the discharge of official duty: an act outside the officer's acknowledged official conduct (such as an unacknowledged, unauthorized detention) does not attract that protection, even if committed by someone holding public office at the time.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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