Sanction for official duty offences depends on a fact-sensitive inquiry and may be raised at the proper stage of trial.

Sanction under Section 197 CrPC depends on a fact-sensitive inquiry into whether the alleged act has a reasonable connection with official duty and whether the public servant acted or purported to act in that capacity. The Court held that the sanction question is jurisdictional but need not be conclusively decided at the threshold in every case; it may be examined at the stage when the relevant facts are sufficiently available. In corruption-related matters, the effect of Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act must also be considered. The refusal to decide sanction at the present stage was upheld, with liberty reserved to raise the plea at the appropriate stage during trial.

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Issues: Whether the applicability of sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 could be finally determined at the present stage and whether the courts below were justified in declining to decide that question on the existing record.

Analysis: The governing test is whether the act complained of has a reasonable connection with the discharge of official duty and whether the accused acted or purported to act in that capacity. The protection is not available for every offence by a public servant, but only where the alleged act is directly and reasonably connected with official duty. The question of sanction is jurisdictional, but it need not be decided merely on the lodging of the complaint or at the initial stage in every case. It may arise at different stages of the proceeding, depending on the facts then available. In cases involving offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the effect of Section 19 also has to be kept in view.

Conclusion: The refusal to decide the applicability of sanction under Section 197 at the present stage was upheld, and the appellants were left free to raise the plea at the appropriate stage during trial.

Final Conclusion: The appeals did not result in any adjudication on the merits of sanction, and the trial was permitted to proceed with liberty reserved to agitate the issue at the proper stage.

Ratio Decidendi: The necessity of sanction under Section 197 depends on a fact-sensitive inquiry into whether the alleged act bears a reasonable connection with official duty, and that question may be examined at the stage when the relevant facts are fit for determination rather than being conclusively decided at the threshold in every case.

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