In Brief
D. Devaraja filed a private complaint against a police officer (Owais Sabeer Hussain) alleging assault, wrongful confinement, and intimidation while in custody. The issue was whether the Magistrate could take cognizance without prior government sanction. The Supreme Court held that acts such as beating or confining someone have no reasonable connection to any law conferring police powers and therefore cannot be characterized as official acts. Where alleged acts are reasonably connected to discharge of duty despite exceeding authority, government sanction is mandatory before prosecution. The High Court erred by refusing to quash the complaint; it should have exercised its powers to set aside the Magistrate's order taking cognizance.
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