In Brief
D. Devaraja, a police officer accused of ill-treating a suspect in custody, challenged a private criminal complaint filed against him without the required sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Section 170 of the Karnataka Police Act. The High Court had remitted the complaint for discharge proceedings rather than quashing it outright. The Supreme Court held that when a complaint alleges acts reasonably connected to the discharge of official duty—such as police conduct during criminal investigation—sanction is a mandatory jurisdictional prerequisite for taking cognizance. The Court quashed the entire complaint for want of sanction, rejecting the High Court's approach of remitting it with discharge options.
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