Mandatory prior approval before recording an FIR under special anti-terror law vitiates proceedings when absent at inception.

Prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police under Section 20-A(1) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act was treated as a mandatory precondition before information about the offence was first recorded by police. Because the record did not establish that written or oral approval existed at the inception of the case, the FIR was legally infirm and the defect could not be cured by later investigation. On that basis, the FIR and all subsequent proceedings founded on it were held vitiated, and the conviction was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the recording of the FIR and the ensuing proceedings were vitiated for want of prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police under Section 20-A(1) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987.

Analysis: The statutory requirement under Section 20-A(1) was held to be mandatory and intended to prevent abuse of the special statute. Prior approval had to exist at the stage when information about the offence was first recorded by the police. The evidence did not establish that such approval, written or oral, had in fact been obtained before registration of the case, and a subsequent investigation could not cure the initial defect. In the absence of proof of compliance, the entire process founded on the FIR was treated as legally infirm.

Conclusion: The FIR and all subsequent proceedings were held to be vitiated for non-compliance with Section 20-A(1), and the conviction was set aside in favour of the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded because the mandatory statutory safeguard was not satisfied at the inception of the prosecution, rendering the conviction unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute makes prior approval a mandatory precondition for recording information, absence of such approval at the initial stage vitiates the foundational proceeding and cannot be cured by later investigation.

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