1. In this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioners, seek an order to quash Annexure-1order in CMP 6196 of 2011 whereby the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class-I, Hosdurg, took cognizance for offences under Sections 268, 269, 270 and 278 of the Indian Penal Code against the petitioners who are the Chairperson, Secretary, Health Supervisor and Standing Committee Chairman for Health of Kanhangad Municipality. The second respondent is the complainant. After taking cognizance the case was numbered as CC 1121 of 2011.

2. The plea of the petitioners is that to prosecute the petitioners for any offence alleged to have been committed by them while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duty, sanction under Section 548 of the Kerala Municipality Act and under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are to be obtained before launching prosecution and since no sanction was obtained, Annexure-1 order taking cognizance is not legally sustainable.

3. For a better appreciation of the case, a reading of Section 548 of the Kerala Municipality Act and Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure would be relevant:

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