IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that police officers can be prosecuted without government sanction if they can be removed by the Inspector General, and that the merits of the case should be determined at trial rather than at the quashing stage.

JUDGMENT :

ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY, J.

1. Heard the parties.

2. This criminal miscellaneous petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. with a prayer for quashing the order taking cognizance vide order dated 06.06.2022 passed in Complaint Case No. 171 of 2019 by the learned Judicial Magistrate -1st Class, Koderma whereby and where under the learned Magistrate has found prima facie case for the offences punishable under Section 341/323/376/427/380/504 of the Indian Penal Code against the petitioners and also to quash the entire criminal proceeding arising out of the said Complaint Case.

3. The brief facts of the case is that at about 10:30 P.M. on 03.01.2019, the petitioners committed gang rape upon the prosecutrix together, in her house and upon hue and cry being raised by the prosecutrix, the mother-in-law and sister-in-law of the prosecutrix came to the place of occurrence- which is one of the rooms of the house of the informant and tried to rescue the informant being further ravished but they were also assaulted by the petitioners and the petitioners went on ravishing the complainant. There is also allegation that the petitioners have committed theft of utensils, T.V. and other articles by taking the same after loading the same in a jeep. There is further allegation against the petitioners of criminally intimidating the complainant and her family members.

4. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the allegations against the petitioners are false. Police went to the house of the complainant on the basis of the written report submitted by Dipu Kumar Soni, owner of a jewelry and utensils shop and Shravan Kumar who is owner of a General Store. In connection of the said theft, F.I.R. No. 02/2019 has been lodged against unknown persons for having committed the offences punishable under Section 461/379 of the Indian Penal Code, in which case the son of the opposite party no.2 was charge sheeted in Telaiya P.S. Case No. 162 of 2018 for having committed the offences punishable under Section 379/411/34 of the Indian Penal Code. The complainant-opposite party no.2 filed an application before the Superintendent of Police, Koderma on 28.01.2019 alleging therein that the petitioners on 23.01.2019 took away the amount kept for wedding of her niece along with the household articles and they lodged a false case against her nephew. It is next submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the petitioners are police officers and they are protected under Section 197 Cr.P.C. while functioning as a public servant in discharge of their official duties. It is further submitted that the complaint is a counter blast to Jainagar (Telaiya O.P.) P.S. Case No. 03 of 2019.

5. Relying upon the Judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of State of Haryana and Others V. Bhajan Lal and Others, reported in 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335, it is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that this case is squarely covered by the Clause-7 of Para -102 of the said Judgment which reads as under:-

“102. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Chapter XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by this Court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extraordinary power under Article 226 or the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases by way of illustration wherein such power could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae and to give an exhaustive list of myriad kinds of cases wherein such power should be exercised.

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(7) Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attende