Supreme Court: Govt company staff lack Section 197 CrPC sanction protection

The Supreme Court determined that such employees are not automatically entitled to this protection merely because they are public servants.

Who it concerns: Appellant: Jodhpur Discoms; Respondents: Lalit Soni, Nema Ram, Sur Singh, and Vikash Jhanjadiya; Bench: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekar.

What the court decided

• Set aside the High Court's order discharging Lalit Soni, Nema Ram, and Vikash Jhanjadiya from charges.
• Dismissed the appeal regarding Sur Singh, upholding the High Court's decision to quash charges against him on merits.
• Remitted the matters of Lalit Soni, Nema Ram, and Vikash Jhanjadiya back to the High Court to examine the criminal revision petitions on merits regarding the framing of charges.
• Allowed the respondents to make a prayer before the High Court for early disposal of their revision petitions.
• Disposed of any pending applications.

Also in the document

• The Court held that employees of government companies or public undertakings are not entitled to Section 197 Cr.P.C. protection, even if they are public servants under the Electricity Act, 2003.
• The Court relied on the precedent set in Mohd. Hadi Raja v. State of Bihar (1998) and Punjab State Warehousing Corporation v. Bhushan Chander (2016).
• The Court clarified that it did not consider other grounds raised in the appeals challenging the maintainability of the criminal proceedings, leaving those questions open for appropriate authorities.