Sanction for prosecuting police officers turns on a direct link to official duty and may be reconsidered at any stage.

Sanction for prosecution of police officers is required only where the alleged conduct has a reasonable and direct connection with official duty and is not merely a cloak for criminal acts. Allegations of fake encounter, custodial death or torture do not, by themselves, establish that connection. The question of sanction is jurisdictional and may be examined at any stage on the material then available, with the court entitled to revisit it if later evidence shows the act was done in discharge or purported discharge of official duty. Trial may proceed on the prosecution version pending that determination.

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Issues: Whether prosecution of police officers for alleged fake encounter, custodial death or torture required prior sanction of the Central Government under Section 6 of the Punjab Disturbed Areas Act, 1983, and whether the question of sanction could be examined afresh at different stages of the proceedings.

Analysis: The statutory protection under Section 6, read with the settled principles governing sanction for prosecution of public servants, applies only where the alleged act has a reasonable connection with the discharge of official duty and is not merely a cloak for criminal conduct. Acts which are intrinsically connected with official duty may attract the bar of sanction, but allegations of fake encounter or custodial torture, if ultimately proved in the prosecution version, do not by themselves establish such connection. The question of sanction is jurisdictional and may arise at any stage, with the court entitled to examine the material then available and to reconsider the issue if evidence later shows that the act was done in discharge or purported discharge of official duty.

Conclusion: The appeals and writ petition were disposed of by permitting the trial to proceed on the prosecution version at the present stage, while leaving it open to the accused to establish at trial that the incident was connected with official duty so that the question of sanction may be revisited in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Sanction for prosecution of a public servant is required only when the alleged offence bears a reasonable and direct connection with official duty, and the need for sanction may be determined or reconsidered at any stage on the basis of the material then available.

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