Kerala HC says govt sanction must to prosecute police personnel for ‘illegal acts’ during discharge of duties

Kerala High Court says government sanction required to prosecute police for illegal acts done within official duty.

The Kerala High Court has held that sanction of the government under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is required to prosecute police personnel for any alleged illegal act done as part of their official duty.

The court made the observation recently while dismissing an appeal by Joji Joseph of Pala challenging the Kottayam Additional Sessions Court’s order acquitting four police officers in a 1996 case registered against them on charge of taking him into illegally custody and manhandling him. Joji was taken into custody and a case registered against him for being allegedly drunk and behaving disorderly on the road under Section 51A of the Kerala Police Act.

The court observed that even in a case where a person is taken into custody as part of duty and strictly in accordance with law, the police have no authority to manhandle or detain him illegally. If manhandled or detained illegally, the erring policemen are liable for prosecution. That does not mean that if such an act is done as part of official duty, no sanction is required to prosecute them.

The court added that every offence committed by the police does not require sanction if such an act is entirely outside the scope of his duty. If the alleged act, however illegal it may be, was reasonably connected or has a reasonable nexus to the discharge of his official duty, then sanction is required for prosecution under Section 197.

The court endorsed the view of the sessions court that it could not be held that the alleged conduct of the police officers was alien to their official act so as to deprive him of the protection under Section 197 of the Code.