Allahabad High Court: Police Uniform Is Not License To Assault Innocent Citizens

The Allahabad High Court has held that Police Officials cannot be provided with protection from prosecution under Section 197 Cr.P.C. for their acts beyond official duty.

The Court was considering an Application seeking quashing of summons issued under Sections - 323, 342, 394 I.P.C.

The single bench of Justice Raj Beer Singh observed, "Considering facts of the matter and position of law, it can not be said that the act of applicants / accused police officials was committed in their official capacity or under the color of the office held by them. There is no direct or reasonable connection between their act and their official duty. Merely because the applicants are police officials, it would not provide any shield to the applicants. Police uniform is not license to assault innocent citizens. Therefore, the act / offence committed by the applicants can safely be said to have been outside the scope of their official duty which obviates the question of sanction for their prosecution and thus, the applicants are not entitled to avail the shield provided under section 197 Cr.P.C."

The Applicant was represented by Advocate Vinay Kumar while the Respondent was represented by Advocate Government Advocate.

Facts of the Case

The Complainant-Doctor lodged the impugned Complaint alleging that when he was coming from Kanpur along with his staff members, his car got rubbed from a white colour car in the way. Two-three persons came out from the car and a quarrel has taken place, however, matter was subsided. On that same day during night hours, the Applicant-Constables stopped his car started abusing the Complainant and his companions by saying that how they dared to rub their car from their vehicle. They fired some shots in air and forcibly dragged the complainant and his companions into their vehicles. The said Police Officials damaged mobile phone of the complainant and snatched golden chain and cash from him. The Applicants assaulted the Complainant and his companions with leg and fists and they took them to Kannauj and confined them for about one and a half hour. Later on, the family members of complainant came to know about the incident and thereafter they were set free.

Counsel for the Applicants submitted that when on the night of the alleged incident, the Applicants were patrolling in the area, they saw the Complainant driving his vehicle rashly and warned him due to which he got annoyed and later this false complaint was lodged against the Applicants. The Complainant being a doctor prepared false injury reports of himself and of the alleged injured persons. It was further submitted that at the time of incident, the applicants were discharging their official duty and thus, they cannot be prosecuted without sanction under Section – 197 Criminal Procedure Code.

Reasoning By Court

The Court at the outset stated the well settled legal position on the issue of quashing of criminal proceedings that the jurisdiction to quash a complaint, FIR or a charge-sheet should be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional cases while referring to the Supreme Court's decision in State of Haryana and others Vs. Ch. Bhajan Lal.

On the issue of applicability of section 197 Cr.P.C., it referred to Om Prakash Yadav Vs Niranjan Kumar Upadhyay & Ors and reiterated that the object behind the provisions of section - 197 Cr.P.C. is to protect responsible public servants against institution of possibly false or vexatious criminal proceedings for offences alleged to have been committed by them while they are acting or purporting to act in their official capacity

"While considering the question of applicability of section 197 Cr.P.C. the Court has to apply its mind to the factual situation before it. A public servant can only be said to act or purport to act in the discharge of his official duty, if his act is such that it lies within the scope and range of his official duties. The act complained of must be integrally connected or directly linked to his duties as a public servant for the purpose of affording protection under section 197 Cr.P.C.. It was laid down that there must be a reasonable connection between the act done and the discharge of the official duty and the act must bear such relation to the duty such that the accused could lay a reasonable, but not a pretended or fanciful claim, that his actions were in the course of performance of his duty," the Court observed.

It thus stressed that the sine qua non for the applicability of this section is that the offence charged must be committed by the public servant either in his official capacity or under the color of the office held by him such that there is a direct or reasonable connection between the act and the official duty.

With respect to the facts of the case, the Court noted that there is nothing to show that at the time of incident the Applicants were on patrolling duty at the spot of alleged incident as no General Diary entry of the applicants has been brought on record to show that at the time of alleged incident they were on patrolling duty or they were performing any official duty.

"It is not the case of applicants that complainant or his companions have committed any crime or any case was registered against them regarding the incident in question. It is also not the case of applicants that while discharging their duties, they acted in excess of their duty. Even otherwise the act of assault made on complainant and his companions and commission of robbery has no reasonable or rational nexus with discharge of the official duty of applicants," the Court observed.

It thus concluded that a prima facie case is made out against applicants as there is material to show that they have abused and assaulted the complainant and his companions merely because his car got rubbed with the vehicle in which the applicants were travelling.

The Application was thus accordingly dismissed.

Cause Title: Animesh Kumar And 3 Others vs. State of U.P. and Another 2025:AHC:46577

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