ORDER :

The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is an annual event held in the backwaters at Punnamada in Alappuzha. The event has received international acclaim with thousands thronging every year to witness the boat race. The event transforms the otherwise idyllic lake into an arena of activities bordering on festivity. The euphoria surrounding a boat race is difficult to describe but is to be experienced.

2. Organising the Nehru Trophy Boat Race is a herculean task. A society by the name 'Nehru Trophy Boat Race Society' (for short ‘the Society’) has been constituted, with the District Collector of Alappuzha as its Chairman and the Revenue Divisional Officer as its Member Secretary. Two civil servants occupying the above positions in 2012 are facing indictment for the offences under sections 406, 418, 463, 471, 420 and 120(b) r/w section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, along with the Society. The allegations are in connection with the boat race event held on 11.08.2012. Cognizance was taken of the above-referred offences on the basis of a private complaint filed by the first respondent, disregarding the claim of the accused of the need for sanction to prosecute them. The proceedings against