Bombay High Court rules custodial torture claims require sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C

This is a judgment by the Bombay High Court (Circuit Bench at Kolhapur) regarding two criminal writ petitions filed by police officers challenging the issuance of process against them for alleged custodial torture. It matters to citizens as it addresses the legal protection (sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C.) afforded to public servants for acts committed while discharging official duties.

The petitioners are Sanjay Bapuso Dalvi (Police Inspector), Mahesh Suresh Kore, and Namdev Dadu Chougule (Police Constables). The respondents are the State of Maharashtra and Yasin B. Mankapure (the complainant). The judgment concerns the jurisdiction of the High Court to review orders from the Additional Sessions Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class in Ichalkaranji.

• The petitioners challenged orders dated 8th April 2022 by the Additional Sessions Judge, Ichalkaranji, which dismissed their Criminal Revision Applications.
• The underlying case involves allegations that on 26th November 2008, the petitioners (police officers) assaulted the complainant at Shivaji Nagar Police Station to extract a confession for a murder.
• The Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ichalkaranji, issued process against the petitioners for offences under Sections 326, 325, 324, 342, 348, 504, and 506 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
• The Magistrate held that no sanction under Section 197 of the Cr.P.C. was required because the acts were not part of the duty to threaten or coerce, relying on the Supreme Court judgment in Choudhari Parveen Sultana vs. State of West Bengal.
• The petitioners argued that the acts were committed in discharge of official duty (or in excess thereof) and thus required prior sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C. to proceed.
• The High Court reserved the judgment on 22nd June 2026 and pronounced it on 9th July 2026.

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