Prior sanction under Section 197 CrPC is necessary for prosecuting public servants for acts connected to their official duties, even if those acts exceed their official authority.

ORAL ORDER :

S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR, J.

In this petition, petitioner seeks the following reliefs; "

a) Quash the impugned proceedings initiated in C.C.No.1503/2023 (CR.No.31/2015) registered for the offence punishable under Section 406 , 409 & 420 OF IPC pending on the file of the learned Additional Civil Judge and JMFC Court, Mudigere (Notified area) Chikkamagalur District in the interest of justice and equity.

b) To issue such other order or to issue such other direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit in peculiar facts and circumstances of the case in the interest of justice and equity.

c) Pass any such other order as this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity."

2. Heard learned Senior counsel Mr. Jayakumar S.Patil for Smt. Galagi Sunita Pralhad, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent Nos.1 and 2 and perused the material on record.

3. In addition to reiterating various contentions urged in the petition and referring to the material on record, learned Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner invited my attention to the impugned complaint in order to point out that all the allegations relate to and are reasonably connected to the petitioner's official duties when he was working as a Chief Officer of Notified Area Committee of Kuduremukh. In this context, it is pointed out that in the absence of sanction under Section 197 of Cr.P.C., to initiate proceedings against the petitioner in relation to the allegations involving performance of official duties, the impugned proceedings deserve to be quashed.

4. In support of the submissions, learned Senior counsel relied on the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of G.C. Manjunath and others vs. Seetaram , [(2025) 5 SCC 390] .

5. Per contra, learned HCGP submits that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.

6. Before adverting to the rival submissions, it is necessary to extract the charge sheet, which reads as under;

7. In the case of G.C. Manjunath (supra), the Hon'ble Apex Court has held as follows;

"38. While dealing with the provisions of Section 197CrPC, read with Section 170 of the Police Act, this Court in D. Devaraja [ D. Devaraja v. Owais Sabeer Hussain , (2020) 7 SCC 695 : (2020) 3 SCC (Cri) 442 ] observed that not every offence committed by a police officer automatically gets this protection. The safeguard under Section 197CrPC and Section 170 of the Police Act is limited. It applies only if the alleged act is reasonably connected to the officer's official duties. The law does not offer protection if the official role is used as a mere excuse to commit wrongful acts. However, it was held that the protection of prior sanction will be available when there is a reasonable connection between the act and their duty. While enunciating when the protection of prior sanction will be applicable, this Court held that even if a police officer exceeds his official powers, as long as there is a reasonable connection between the act and his duty, they are still entitled to the protection requiring prior sanction. Excessiveness alone does not strip them of this safeguard. The language of both Section 197CrPC and Section 170 of the Police Act is clear that sanction is required not only for acts done in the discharge of official duty as well as for the acts purported to be done in the discharge of official duty and/or acts done “under colour of or in excess of such duty or authority”. Sanction becomes mandatory if there is a reasonable connection between the act and the officer's official duties, even if the officer acted improperly or exceeded his authority. Therefore, if a complaint a