Sanction under Section 197 of Cr.P.C. is required when acts are intrinsically connected to official duties; custodial violence may not be protected.

S.MANU, J.-------------------------------------------------- Crl.M.C.No.152 of 2021 ------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 06^th day of February, 2025 ORDER The 2^nd respondent filed a private complaint before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court I, Mavelikara against the petitioner alleging that he had committed offences under Sections 323, 324, 342 and 506 (1) of IPC.

2. Brief facts as narrated in the complaint of the 2^nd respondent are as follows:

The marital relationship of the complainant and his wife was in a strained phase. In May, 2015, some quarrels flared up and the wife left the home with children. On 28.05.2015, by 7.00 am, three police officers from Kurathikadu Police Station came to his house and took him to the Police Station. The petitioner, a civil police officer attached to the Police Station approached the 2^nd complainant around 10^o clock and assaulted him brutally. The assault continued till the complainant became unconscious. Next day early morning at 4.45, he was taken to Government Hospital Mavelikara and was brought back to Police Station after giving first aid. The torture he suffered was revealed to the doctor by the complainant. Later, the complainant was produced before the court and taking note of the physical condition, he was released on bail. He thereafter, underwent treatment in Government Medical College, Vandanam and also in Government Hospital, Mavelikara.

3. Statements of the 2^nd Respondent and of the doctor who had treated him at the Government Hospital, Mavelikara were recorded by the learned Magistrate under Section 244 of Cr.P.C . Cognizance was taken and later charge was framed against the petitioner on 03.09.2019. On 17.02.2020, plea of the petitioner was recorded. He pleaded not guilty. Thereafter, this Crl.M.C was filed seeking to quash the charge and all proceedings in C.C.No.696 of 2016 pending before the JFCM – I, Mavelikara. By order dated 12.01.2021, in Crl.M.A No.1/2021, further proceedings in the case were stayed by this Court for a period of two months. The interim order was extended later on different occasions.

4. Prime contention of the petitioner is that he was a Senior Civil Police Officer attached to the Kurathikadu Police Station at the relevant time and the 2^nd respondent was taken into custody in a case registered on the basis of information furnished by his minor daughter. The daughter gave a statement to the police while undergoing treatment in hospital that she as well as her mother were assaulted by the 2^nd respondent. Crime No.533/2015 was registered against the 2^nd respondent for the offences under Sections 294 (b), 323, 324 IPC r/w 23 Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. The 2^nd respondent was taken into custody and thereafter produced before the jurisdictional court, which granted him bail. Therefore, the 2^nd respondent was taken to the police station in lawful discharge of official duties by police. Case of the 2^nd respondent is that he was manhandled while he was in the police station. Since the alleged offences occurred inside the police station while the 2^nd respondent was in lawful custody, it is contended that sanction under Section 197 of the Cr.P.C . was essential for proceeding against the petitioner. It is also contended that though the alleged incident occurred on 28.05.2015, the complaint was filed only on 13.01.2016 after a lapse of 230 days. It is pointed out that there is no explanation for the delay in filing the complaint and also for not approaching the police.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner relied on the following reported judgments/orders to canvas the proposition that sanction under Section 197 of Cr.P.C is a mandatory requirement when the alleged offence had happened during the course of discharge of official duty.

i) Joji Joseph v. State of Kerala [ 2024 KLT OnLine 1651 ]

ii) Krishna Kumar B. v. State of Kerala and another [2017