No Prior Sanction Needed to Register FIR Against Public Servants; Section 197 Applies at Cognizance: Rajasthan High Court

The petitioner complained that the election officer and the assistant election officer for the 2021 municipal election at Nokha, Bikaner district, had interpolated nomination papers and fabricated records, alleging offences under Sections 166, 167, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B IPC (para 2). He asked the Magistrate to send the complaint to the police under Section 156(3) CrPC for an FIR and investigation (para 2). On 26.07.2021 the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nokha refused, holding that without sanction under Section 197 no FIR could be directed against public servants (paras 1-2). The State supported that view (para 4).

Section 197 protects public servants against frivolous and vexatious prosecution for official acts, but it is not an impregnable shield against criminal accountability (para 6). Its text bars a court from taking cognizance without sanction; it says nothing about registration of an FIR or investigation, and the line between investigation and cognizance is a foundational one (para 6). Directing investigation under Section 156(3) is a pre-cognizance step in which the Magistrate only asks whether the allegations disclose a cognizable offence (para 6). Under Lalita Kumari, an FIR must be registered when information discloses a cognizable offence, and requiring sanction first would fetter investigation (para 6). Whether the acts were done in discharge of official duty or in abuse of it may itself need investigation, particularly where forgery and fabrication of official records are alleged (para 6). The sanction question arises later, when the court considers taking cognizance, so the Magistrate erred (paras 6-7).