The prosecution of public servants for acts committed in discharge of official duties requires prior sanction, or any cognizance taken without it is barred under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

JUDGMENT :

1 By this revision petition, petitioner/Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is challenging the order dated 24th July 2017 avk 1 passed by the learned Special Judge for the CBI, Greater Mumbai, below Exhibit 1061, thereby discharging respondent/accused no.28 Dalpat Singh Rathod, the then Police Constable of Rajasthan Police, for want of evidence and absence of material under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as well as for want of sanction as envisaged by Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure . The claim for discharge was for offences punishable under Sections 120B , 364, 365, 368, 341, 342, 384, 302 read with 201 of the Indian Penal Code as well as under Section 25 of the Indian Arms Act .

2 In order to have a better understanding of the subject matter, it is necessary to state case of the prosecution against the accused persons in brief. The prosecution case is to the following effect :

(a) Sohrabuddin Shaikh (since deceased) was a dreaded criminal, against whom offences of murder, abduction and extortion etc. were registered in the States of Gujarat and avk 2 Rajasthan. He was an absconding accused in Crime No.214 of 2004 regarding murder of Hamid Lala committed in jurisdiction of Hathipole Police Station of Udaipur in Rajasthan and in Crime No.1124 of 2004 registered at Navrangpura Police Station, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in respect of firing at the office of the Popular Builder. He was having link with the terrorists. In the year 1994/95 upon his arrest, Gujarat Police seized 24 AK 56 rifles, large number of hand grenades and a large cache of ammunitions from the well of his farm house, which was supposedly sent to him by Dawood Ibrahim at the instance of ISI for spreading terror in India. According to the intelligence input, he was going to help Pakistani Intelligence Agency ISI and Terrorist Organization Lashkar-e-Toiba in assassinating some big leader of Gujarat. Police from States of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were desperately searching for his whereabouts. Kausarbi (since deceased) was wife of deceased Sohrabuddin Shaikh. Tulsiram Prajapati (since deceased) was an aide of deceased Sohrabuddin Shaikh and avk 3 they both were undertaking criminal activities jointly. Award of Rs.25,000/- and Rs.20,000/- was already declared on Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati respectively. According to the prosecution case, in the year 2004, gang of Sohrabuddin Shaikh became very active in Rajsamand, Nathdwara, Sukher and Udaipur districts of Rajasthan i.e. the areas which are known for marble mining and trade including export of the marble. Hamid Lala gang was protecting the marble traders for consideration. Gang of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati wanted to take control over the area for financial gains by getting rid of Hamid Lala gang. Accordingly, Hamid Lala was murdered by Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his gang. Sohrabuddin Shaikh also started extorting large sum of money from A.K.Marbles and M/s.Sangam Textiles. In view of criminal background and nuisance of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati, the accused persons from Gujarat and Rajasthan Police force entered into criminal conspiracy to eliminate Sohrabuddin Shaikh and then acted in connivance in abduction and avk 4 killing of Sohrabuddin Shaikh. Acting in furtherance of the conspiracy, they also killed Kausarbi and Tulsiram Prajapati.

(b) According to the prosecution case, senior police officers from the States of Gujarat and Rajasthan entered into a criminal conspiracy to eliminate Sohrabuddin Shaikh. For this purpose, they sought help from his associate Tulsiram Prajapati for nabbing Sohrabuddin Shaikh by misleading Tulsiram Prajapati that due to political pressure, they need to arrest Sohrabuddin Shaikh for few months, and subsequently, he will be released on bail. Criminal conspiracy to eliminate Sohrabuddin Shaikh came to be hatched by senior officers including the respondent/ discharged accused, by being in constant touc