The Supreme Court has ruled that when police personnel—such as those in plain clothes—kill a civilian using official firearms in circumstances unrelated to official duties, they do not qualify for protection under Section 197 CrPC. In such cases, no prior sanction (official government permission) is required to initiate prosecution. The Court clarified that actions like these, lacking any reasonable nexus with official functions, fall outside the ambit of “acting or purporting to act in discharge of official duty,” and thus proceedings against such officers can lawfully proceed without sanction.

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