SAMARENDRA NATH KUNDU . v. SADHANA DAS .
Legal Bar on Cognizance under Section 197 Cr.P.C. is Determined by the Law Existing on the Date Cognizance is Taken and Cannot be Nullified by Subsequent Government Notifications.
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: 2026 INSC 304
Decision Date: 01-04-2026
List of Laws
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 197); The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 17); The Police Act, 1861; The Calcutta Police Act, 1866; Administrative Law - Retrospective Application of Notifications
- Facts: The complainant alleged that three police officials, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and two subordinate officers (the appellants), murdered her husband during a lathi charge on an election day. The Magistrate took cognizance in 2001. Previously, the Supreme Court quashed proceedings against the ACP, holding that he was a public servant not removable from office save by or with the sanction of the Government, and thus protected by Section 197(1) of the Cr.P.C. The subordinate appellants subsequently sought similar protection, arguing they were now covered by a 2010 Government of West Bengal notification extending Section 197 protection to subordinate ranks.
- Procedural Posture: The Magistrate initially extended the benefit of the Supreme Court's prior order (regarding the ACP) to the appellants and stayed proceedings. The High Court of Calcutta set aside the Magistrate's order, ruling that the previous judgment applied only to the ACP. The appellants then approached the Supreme Court.
- Issue: Whether subordinate police officers, who were not protected by Section 197 Cr.P.C. at the time the Magistrate took cognizance in 2001, can claim immunity based on a Government notification issued in 2010.
- Holding: No, the appellants are not entitled to the protection. The Court held that the validity of cognizance is determined by the law existing on the date it is taken, and subsequent notifications cannot retrospectively nullify a valid cognizance order.
- Reasoning: The Court reasoned that Section 197(1) applies only to public servants removable by the Government; at the time of cognizance, the appellants were subordinate officers removable by their departmental heads. Regarding the 2010 notification issued under Section 197(3), the Court clarified that the bar under Section 197 operates at the "stage of taking cognizance". If no such bar existed on the date the Court took cognizance (2001), the proceedings are validly initiated. A subsequent notification extending protection to a class of officers is of no consequence to proceedings where cognizance was already lawfully taken, as there is no provision in the Cr.P.C. to nullify a validly passed cognizance order retrospectively.
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