No Immunity To Cops Against Off-Duty Crimes: Sc

A police officer charged with criminal offences cannot enjoy immunity from prosecution on the ground that he or she is a government employee, the Supreme Court has ruled. A bench of Justices Altams Kabir and Markandeya Katju has held that the immunity granted under Section 197 CrPC under which prior sanction was essential to prosecute a government official for criminal offence would not be available if the said offence is not part of the official duty. Citing a ruling in th Bhagwan Prasad Srivastava case (1971) the apex court said all acts done by a public servant in the purported discharge of his/her official duties cannot as a matter of course be brought under the protective umbrella of Section 197 CrPC. "On the other hand, there can be cases of misuse and/or abuse of powers vested in a public servant which can never be said to be a part of the official duties required to be performed by him," the bench observed. The apex court passed the ruling while upholding an appeal filed by Choudhury Parveen Sultana, wife of Samiul Choudhury, who had survived an attempt on his life by some persons. According to Parveen Sultana instead of taking action against the accused, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Behrampore, District Murshidabad, West Bengal, Sahabul Hussain criminally intimidated the family to give favourable statements in favour of the accused.

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