iminal Appeal No 48 of 1954
1303 Appeal by Special Leave granted by the Supreme Court by its Order dated the 31st July 1953 from the Judgment and Order dated the 15th May 1953 of the High Court of Judicature for the State of Pepsu at Th Patiala in Criminal Appeal No 140 of 1952 arising out of the Judgment and Order dated the 31st March 1952 of the Court of Magistrate 1st Class Patiala in Challan Case No 160102 of 1951
Jai Gopal Sethi Naunit Lal with him for the appellant
N section Bindra Porus A Mehta and P G Gokhale with him for the respondent
February 28
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMA AYYAR J
The appellant was a Sub Divisional Officer in the Public Works Department Pepsu and was at the material dates in charge of certain works at a place called Karhali
It was part of his duties to disburse the wages to the workmen employed in the works and the procedure usually followed was that be drew the amount required from the treasury and paid the same to the emplo yees against their signatures or thumb impressions in the monthly acquittance roll
In the roll for April 1951 one Parma was mentioned as a khalasi menial servant and a sum of Rs 51 shown as paid to him for his wages the payment being vouched by thumbimpression
The case of the prosecution was that there was in fact no person of the name of Parma that the thumb impression found in the acquittance roll was that of the appellant himself that he had included a fictitious name in the acquittance roll with intent to himself draw the amount and that by this expedient he had received Rs 51 and misappropriated the same
The First Class Magistrate of Patiala before whom the appellant was put up for trial framed charges against him under section 465 of the Indian Penal Code for forging the thumb impression of Parma and under section 409 of the Indian Penal Code for criminal misappropriation of Rs 51 and after a full trial 167 1304 acquitted him
He held on the evidence that there was a khalasi Parma by name in the service of the accused at Kehrauli and that though the thumbimpression in the acquittance roll was that of the appellant the prosecution had not established that the amount drawn by him did not reach the hands of Parma
Against this judgment there was an appeal by the State to the High Court of Pepsu which held that proof that the thumb impression in the acquittance roll was that of the appellant was sufficient when taken along with other circumstances to establish his guilt and accordingly convicted him both under section 465 and section 409 of the Indian Penal Code
This appeal by special leave is directed against this judgment
In support of  the appeal it is argued by Mr Jai Gopal Sethi that the conviction of the appellant is illegal as sanction had not been obtained under section 197 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for his prosecution that the evidence on record is insufficient to establish an offence either under section 465 or section 409 of the Indian Penal Code and that there having been an acquittal of the appellant by the trial Magistrate the materials on record did not justify a reversal of that verdict by the appellate Court
The question of sanction under section 197 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure may be taken up first for consideration as it goes to the root of the matter
The facts bearing on this question are that there was an application by the Department for sanction to prosecute the appellant for an offence under section 409 and that the Chief Secretary Home Department sent the communication Exhibft PX stating that he had been directed to convey sanction of the Government to his prosecution
In view of this no question was raised before the trial Magistrate or the High Court that the prosecution was bad for want of sanction
But after the disposal of the appeal by the High Court it was discovered that in fact there was no order of the Government sanctioning the prosecution and that the Chief Secretary had committed a mistake in sendidg the communication Exhibit PX
1305 The position therefore is that the prosecution which has resulted in the conviction of the appellant was initiated without any sanction under section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and if sanction under that section is necessary as contended for by Mr Sethi then the entire proceedings including the conviction must be quashed
According to the respondent however the main charge against the appellant is under section 409 and no sanction is required for a prosecution under that section
The point for decision is whether sanction under section 197 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is necessary for prosecuting the appellant under section 409
There has been considerable divergence of judicial opinion on the scope of section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
The question has latterly been the subject of consideration by the highest Courts in this country and by the Privy Council and the position may now be taken to be fairly well settled
Hori Ram Singh vs Emperor1 is a decision of the Federal Court on the necessity for sanction under section 270 of the Government of India Act 1935 which is similar in terms to section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
The facts in that case were that a Sub Assistant Surgeon was charged under section 409 with having dishonestly removed certain medicines from a hospital which was under his charge to his own residence and under section 477 A with having failed to enter them in the stock book
The sanction of the Government had not been obtained for the prosecution under section 270 of the Government of India Act and the point for decision was whether it was necessary
It was held that the charge under section 477 A required sanction as the official capacity is involved in the very act complained of as amounting to a crime but that no sanction was required for a charge under section 409 because the official capacity is material only in connection with the entrustment  and does not necessarily enter into the later act of misappropriation or conversion which is the act complained of
1 1306 In the course of his judgment Varadachariar J discussed the scope of section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and after observing that the decisions on that section were not uniform proceeded to group them under three categories those which had held that sanction was necessary when the act complained of attached to  the official character of the person doing it those which had held that it was necessary in all cases in which the official character of the person gave him an opportunity for the commission of the crime and those which had held it necessary when the offence was committed while the accused was actually engaged in the performance of official duties
The learned Judge expressed his agreement with the first of the three views
In H H B Gill vs The King1 the question arose directly with reference to section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
There the accused was charged under section 161 with taking bribes and under section 120 B with conspiracy
On the question whether sanction was necessary under section 1971 it was held by the Privy Council that there was no difference in scope between that section and section 270 of the Government of India Act 1935 and approving the statement of the law by Varadachariar J in Hori Ram Singh vs Emperor2 Lord Simonds observed A public servant can only be said to act or to purport to act in the discharge of his official duty if his act is such as to lie within the scope of his official duty 
The test may well be whether the public servant if challenged can reasonably claim that what he does he does in virtue of his office
It was accordingly held that as the acts with which the accused was charged could not be justified as done by virtue of his office no sanction was necessary
The view taken in H H B Gill vs The King1 was followed by the Privy Council in A16 ert West Meads vs The King  and reaffirmed in Phanindra Chandra vs 1 1948 LR 75 IA 41
2 3 1948 LR 70 IA 185 1307 The King1 and adopted by this Court in R W Mathams V State of We8t Bengal1
The result of the authorities may thus be summed up It is not every offence committed by a public servant that requires sanction for prosecution under section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure nor even every act done by him while he is actually engaged in the performance of his official duties but if the act complained of is directly concerned with his official duties so that if questioned it could be claimed to have been done by virtue of the office then sanction would be necessary and that would be so irrespective of whether it was in fact a proper discharge of his duties because that would really be a matter of defence on the merits which would have to be in vestigated at the trial and could not arise at the stage of the grant of sanction which mu_t precede the institution of the prosecution
It is conceded for the respondent that on the principle above enunciated sanction would be required for prosecuting the appellant under section 465 as the charge was in respect of his duty of obtaining signatures or thumb impressions of the employees before wages were paid to them
But he contends that misappropriation of funds could under no circumstances be said to be within the scope of the duties of a public servant that he could not when charged with it claim justification for it by virtue of his office that therefore no sanction under section 1971 was necessary and that the question was concluded by the decisions in Hori Ram Singh vs Emperor1 and Albert We8t Meads vs The King1 in both of which the charges were of criminal misappropriation
We are of opinion that this is too broad a statement of the legal position and that the two decisions cited lend no support to it
In our judgment even when the charge is one of misappropriation by a public servant whether sanction is required under section 1971 will depend upon the facts of each case
If the acts complained of are so integrally connected with the duties attach 1 1949 LR 76 IA 10
3 2 1955 1 SOR 216
4 1948 LR 75 IA 180 1308 ing to the office as to be inseparable from them then sanction under section 1971 would be necessary but if there was no necessary connection between them and the performance of those duties the official status furnishing only the occasion or opportunity for the acts then no sanction would be required
Quite recently this Court had to consider in Shreekantiah Ramayya Munipalli vs The State of Bombay1 the necessity for sanction under section 1971 when the charge was one of misappropriation under section 409
There the law was laid down in the following terms The section has content and its language must be given meaning
What it says is When any public servant  is accused of any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty 
We have therefore first to concentrate on the word offence 
Now an offence seldom consists of a single act
It is usually composed of several elements and as a rule a whole series of acts must be proved before it can be established
In the present case the elements alleged against the second accused are first that there was an entrustment  andor dominion  second that the entrustment andor dominion was in his capacity as a public servant  third that there was a disposal  and fourth that the disposal was dishonest 
Now it is evident that the entrustment andor dominion here were in an official capacity and it is equally evident that there could in this case be no disposal lawful or otherwise save by an act done or purporting to be done in an official capacity
On the facts it was held in that case that the several acts which were complained of were official acts and that the prosecution was bad for want of sanction
The decisions in Hori Ram Singh vs Emperor1 and Albert West Meads vs The King1 when properly examined do not support the extreme contention 1 2 3 1948 LR 75 IA 185
1309 urged on behalf of the respondent
In Hori Ram Singh vs Emperor1 the medicines had not been entered in the stock book and were removed by the accused to his residence and the charge against him was that in so removing them he had committed MISappropriation
It was no part of the duty of the accused to remove medicines to his house and he could not claim that he did so by virtue of his office
He could have made such a claim if he had let us suppose entered the medicines in the stock books and shown them as expended in the hospital
But on the facts no official act was involved and that was why Varadachariar J observed that  so far as the charge under section 409 was con cerned the acts in respect of which he was intended to be prosecuted could not be regarded as acts done or purported to be done in execution of his duty
Reference may also be made to the following observations of Sulaiman J in the same case The question whether a criminal breach of trust can be committed while purporting to act in execution of his duty is not capable of being answered hypothetically in the abstract without any reference to the actual facts of the case
An attempt to answer the question in a generalized way has been responsible for loose language used in some of the cases cited before us
The question whether the act purported to have been done in execution of duty or not must depend on the special circumstances of each case
In Albert West Meads vs The King1 an Army Officer had received two sums of money and was subsequently unable to produce them
He was charged with criminal misappropriation and convicted
He contended that the conviction was illegal for want of sanction but the Privy Council following H H B Gill vs The King1 rejected this contention
It is essential to note that the accused did not claim to have spent the amount in the course of his official duties but stated that the moneys had been con sumed by fire
It is with reference to these facts that the Privy Council observed 1 2 1948 LR 75 IA 185
3 1948 LR 75 IA 41
1310 of which he was charged  ie acts of fraudulently misapplying money entrusted to his care as a public servant as acts done by him by virtue of the office that he held  
The result then is that whether sanction is necessary to prosecute a public servant on a charge of criminal misappropriation will depend on whether the acts complained of hinge on his duties as a pubic servant
If they do then sanction is requisite
But if they are unconnected with such duties then no sanction is necessary
In this view we have to examine whether the acts with which the appellant is charged directly bear on the duties which he has got to discharge as a public servant
The appellant received the sum of Rs 51 alleged to have been misappropriated as Subdivisions Officer and he admits receipt of the same
Then it was his duty to pay that amount to the khalasi Parma and take his signature or thumb impression in acknowledgment thereof
The accused does claim to have paid the amount to Parma and the acquittance roll records the payment and there is in acknowledgment thereof a thumb impression as against his name
If what appears on the face of the roll is true and whether it is true or not is not a matter relevant at the stage of sanction then the acts with which the appellant is charged fall within the scope of his duties and can be justified by him as done by virtue of his office
Clearly therefore sanction was required under section 1971 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the appellant could be prosecuted under section 409 and the absence of such sanc tion is fatal to the maintainability of the prosecution
The conviction should therefore be quashed
In this view there is no need to consider whether on the evidence the offence of criminal misappropriation or forgery has been brought home to the appellant or not
The appeal is accordingly allowed and the convictions and sentences passed on the appellant arc set aside
Fine if paid will be refunded
Appeal allowed


Summary:
It is not every offence committed by a public servant that requires sanction for prosecution under section 197 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure nor even every act done by him while he is actually engaged in the performance of his official duties but if the act complained of is directly concerned with his official duties so that if questioned it could be claimed to have been done by virtue of the office then sanction would be necessary and that would be so irrespective of whether it was in fact a proper discharge of his duties because that would really be a matter of defence on the merits which would have to be investigated at the trial and could not arise at the stage of the grant of sanction which must precede the institution of the prosecution
Whether sanction is necessary to prosecute a public servant on a charge of criminal misappropriation will depend on whether the acts complained of hinge on his duties as a public servant
If they do then sanction is requisite
But if they are unconnected with such duties then no sanction is necessary
Hori Ram Singh vs Emperor 1939 FCR 159 H H B Gill vs The King 1948 LR 75 IA 41 Albert West Meads vs The King 1948 LA 75 IA 185 Phanindra Chandra vs The King 1949 LR 76 IA 10 B W Mothavzs vs State of West Bengal 1955 1 SCR 216 and Shreekantiah Ramayya Munipalli vs The State of Bombay 1955 1 SCR 1177 referred to