The Supreme Court has declared that prior sanction is unnecessary to prosecute police officers accused of filing false cases or fabricating evidence, as such acts of ‘abuse of power’ do not fall within the scope of their official duties.
On Friday, the Supreme Court stated that police officers accused of lodging false cases or fabricating evidence can be prosecuted without requiring prior approval. The court clarified that these officials cannot seek protection under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
A Bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra emphasized that misuse or abuse of authority by public servants cannot be shielded under the law.
“When a police official is said to have lodged a false case, he cannot claim that sanction for prosecution under Section 197 CrPC was required since it can be no part of the official duty of a public official to lodge a bogus case and fabricate evidence or documents in connection with the same,” the order said.
The Supreme Court reversed the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s decision to dismiss a criminal case against a police officer accused of fabricating documents to protect the accused in a murder case, ruling that prior permission was not required.
“This Court has held in a legion of decisions that any misuse or abuse of powers by a public servant to do something that is impermissible in law like threatening to provide a tutored statement or trying to obtain signatures on a blank sheet of paper; causing the illegal detention of an accused; engaging in a criminal conspiracy to create false or fabricated documents; conducting a search with the sole object of harassing and threatening individuals, amongst others, cannot fall under the protective umbrella of Section 197 CrPC,” the court stated in its order
Under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the CrPC, prosecuting a public servant for actions carried out as part of their official duties requires prior sanction from the appropriate government authority.
The Supreme Court noted that filing a false case or fabricating evidence or documents related to it cannot be considered an official duty of a public servant.