Sanction for prosecution applies only to acts linked with official duty; criminal breach of trust by a public servant is not covered.

Previous sanction is required only when the alleged offence is reasonably connected with the public servant's official duty and can be said to have been committed by virtue of that office. The protection depends on the nature of the act, not merely the offender's status, so it does not extend to every offence committed by a public servant. Criminal breach of trust under Section 409 IPC is not ordinarily an act done in discharge of official duty; the office may only provide the opportunity for the offence. On that principle, the Court treated Section 106 of the Madras Village Panchayats Act as analogous to Section 197(1) CrPC and held that prior Government sanction was not necessary.

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Issues: Whether previous sanction of the Government was necessary for prosecuting a public servant for criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code when the alleged misappropriation was not committed while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duty.

Analysis: The governing principle is that sanction is required only where the act complained of is directly connected with official duty so that it can reasonably be said to have been done by virtue of the office held. The protection does not extend to every offence committed by a public servant, and it is the quality of the act, not merely the status of the offender, that matters. Criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code is not, by its nature, an act done in discharge of official duty, and the official position merely affords an opportunity for the offence. The Court applied the same principle to Section 106 of the Madras Village Panchayats Act, which is in substance similar to Section 197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Conclusion: Previous sanction of the Government was not necessary, and the convictions under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code were not invalid for want of sanction.

Ratio Decidendi: Sanction for prosecution is required only when the offence is reasonably connected with the public servant's official duty and the act complained of can be said to have been done by virtue of office; criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code does not ordinarily attract such protection.

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