Published on: 25 August 2023 at 10:30 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: A. Sreenivasa Reddy v. Rakesh Sharma (2023)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for sanctioning of the prosecution for public servant is attracted only in cases where the public servant is such who is not removable from his office save by or with the sanction of the Government. It is held that a person working in a Nationalised Bank is a public servant, yet the provisions of Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 would not be attracted the person is removable from his service without the sanction of the Government.
50. It is pertinent to note that the banking sector being governed by the Reserve Bank of India and considered as a limb of the State under Article 12 of the Constitution and also by virtue of Section 46A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the appellant herein is deemed to be a “public servant’ for the purpose of provisions under the PC Act, 1988. However, the same cannot be extended to the IPC.
Assuming for a moment that the appellant herein should be considered as a “public servant” for the IPC sanction also, the protection available under Section 197 of the CrPC is not available to the appellant herein since, the conditions in built under Section 197 of the CrPC are not fulfilled.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
