ACCOUNTABILITY OF NON-UNIFORMED POLICE OFFICIALS FOR CIVILIAN’S DEATH:
HEAD CONSTABLE RAJ KUMAR ETC V. THE STATE OF PUNJAB & ANR.
SLP (CRL) NOS. 8656-8657 OF 2019 WITH CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2289 OF 2025
Honourable Supreme Court’s Bench: Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta
Date: 29th April 2025
The issue that lies before the Hon’ble Supreme Court is whether the Punjab Police Officials involved in a fake encounter can be exonerated for killing a civilian, given that they were in plain clothes at that time? The Hon’ble Court answered negatively that the contention of the accused persons that the Sanction under Section 197, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is devoid of merit as the petitioners are alleged to have intercepted a civilian vehicle while they were in plain clothes and to have collectively opened fire on its occupant. Such actions, by their intrinsic character, do not bear a proximate or reasonable nexus with any official action such as the maintenance of public order or the execution of a lawful arrest. The mere possession of service weapons or the assertion of a purported official purpose cannot legitimize manifestly unlawful acts by clothing them with the character of actions undertaken in the discharge of official duty or under the pretext thereof.1
- https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2019/24326/24326_2019_5_25_61396_FinalOrder_29-Apr-2025.pdf
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