# STATE OF MAHARASHTRA v. NARHARRAO

- **Citation:** [1966] 3 S.C.R. 880
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1966-03-14
- **Case number:** CRIMINAL APPELi.A TP. JURJSDICllON : Criminal Appeal No. 214 of 1964
- **Bench:** K. SUBBA RAo, V. Ramaswami, J. M. SllELAT
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/state-of-maharashtra-v-narharrao-3777
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

Bombay PoUce Act (22 of 1951), s. 161(1)-"Undtr colour or In
excas of any suc/J duty or authority .. , meaning of.
'Ibo respondent, a head constable, was charged under s. 161, Indian
Peul Code, and s. 5(1) (b) and (2) of the Prevention of Corruption
Act, for accepting a bribe for weakening a prosccutioo case.
He was
convicted by the u:a1 coun, but the High Court allowed the appeal on
the ground that under s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police Act 1951, the
prosecution was barred having been launched more than six months after
the date of the alleged offence.
In appeal to this Court,
HE!LD : The High Court was m error, because, the benefit of the
aix months period of limitation i• available only when the
allC!(ed
act
of the officer was one done under colour t>f the duty imposed or tho
authority conferred on him by any provision of law, or in excess of any
auch duty or authority.
Unleas there is a reasonable connection between
the act complained of and the powers and duties of the office, it cannot
be said that tho act was done by the accused omcer under the colour of
bis office. (882 E; 883 CJ
The State o; Andhra Prades/1 v. N. Venuropal ll1ld On., [1964) 3
S.C.R. 742. followed.
Vlrupaxappa Veerqpa Kadampur ''· Stale of Mytore, (1963) Supp. 2
S.C.ll. 6, referred to.
CRIMINAL APPELi.A TP. JURJSDICllON : Criminal Appeal No.
214 of 1964.
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Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order datecl
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the November 11, 1963 of the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench)
at Nagpur in Criminal Appeal No. 153 of 1963.
R. M. Hazamai•is, R. H. Dliebar and B. R. G. K. A char, for the
appellant.
M. S. K. Sastri, for the respondent.

## Text

STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
v.
NARHARRAO
March 14, 1966
(K. SUBBA RAo, V. RAMASWAMI AND J. M. SllELAT, JJ.j
Bombay PoUce Act (22 of 1951), s. 161(1)-"Undtr colour or In
excas of any suc/J duty or authority .. , meaning of.
'Ibo respondent, a head constable, was charged under s. 161, Indian
Peul Code, and s. 5(1) (b) and (2) of the Prevention of Corruption
Act, for accepting a bribe for weakening a prosccutioo case.
He was
convicted by the u:a1 coun, but the High Court allowed the appeal on
the ground that under s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police Act 1951, the
prosecution was barred having been launched more than six months after
the date of the alleged offence.
In appeal to this Court,
HE!LD : The High Court was m error, because, the benefit of the
aix months period of limitation i• available only when the
allC!(ed
act
of the officer was one done under colour t>f the duty imposed or tho
authority conferred on him by any provision of law, or in excess of any
auch duty or authority.
Unleas there is a reasonable connection between
the act complained of and the powers and duties of the office, it cannot
be said that tho act was done by the accused omcer under the colour of
bis office. (882 E; 883 CJ
The State o; Andhra Prades/1 v. N. Venuropal ll1ld On., [1964) 3
S.C.R. 742. followed.
Vlrupaxappa Veerqpa Kadampur ''· Stale of Mytore, (1963) Supp. 2
S.C.ll. 6, referred to.
CRIMINAL APPELi.A TP. JURJSDICllON : Criminal Appeal No.
214 of 1964.
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Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order datecl
I'
the November 11, 1963 of the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench)
at Nagpur in Criminal Appeal No. 153 of 1963.
R. M. Hazamai•is, R. H. Dliebar and B. R. G. K. A char, for the
appellant.
M. S. K. Sastri, for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Ramaswami, J. This appeal is brought, by special leave, from
the judgment of the High Court of Bombay, Nagpur, Bench dated
November II, 1963 in Criminal Appeal no. 153of1963.
..
The respondent Narharrao, a police Head Constable was
attached to the Murtizapur Police Station in September, 1962.
He was investigating offences under ss. 110, 102 and 117 of the
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MAHARASHTRA v. NARHARRAO (Ramaswami, /.)
ss1;
Bombay Police Act against two persons, viz., Onkar and Harihar.
It is alleged that Onkar and Harihar approached Narharrao for
showing them some favour. The latter demanded Rs. 25 as a
bribe for weakening the prosecution case which was to be launched
against Onkar and Harihar. The respondent accepted Rs. 5 on
or about October 14, 1962 and Rs. 10 on or about October 19, 1962
as illegal gratification. The respondent was tried in the Court of
the Special Judge, Akola for accepting bribe under s. 161, Indian
Penal Code or alternatively for committing criminal misconduct
in the discharge of his duties which is punishable under s. 5(2) read
with s. 5(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
By this
judgment dated June 25,
1963, the Special Judge held the respondent guilty of both the offences and sentenced him to rigorous
imprisonment for one year and also to pay a fine of Rs. 200 .or in
default to a rigorous imprisonment for a further period of 3 months.
The respondent filed an appeal in the High Court, being Criminal
Appeal no. 153 of 1963. The High Court allowed the appeal on
the ground that s.161(1) of the Bombay Police Act was a bar to the
prosecution of the respondent. The High Court did not discuss in
detail the question as to whether there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction of the respondent on merits but acquitted him
on the technical ground that no prosecution could be launched more
than six months after the date of the alleged offence, as required
under s.161(1) of the Bombay Police Act.
The question of law presented for determination in this appea
is whether the alleged act of offence was committed by the respondent "under colour or in excess of any such duty or authority as
aforesaid" within the meaning of s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police.
Act (Bombay Act 22 of 1951).
Section 159 of this Act provides as follows :
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"159. No Revenue Commissioner, Magistrate or
Police
Officer shall be liable to any penalty or to
payment of damages on account of an act done in good faith,
in pursuance or intended pursuance of any duty imposed or
any authority conferred on him by
any provision of
this Act or any other law for the time being in force or any
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rule, order or direction made or given therein."
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Section 160 enacts :
"160. No public servant or person duly appointea or
authorised shall be liable to any penalty or to payment of
any damages for giving effect in good faith to any such
order or direction issued with apparent authority by the
State Government or by a person empowered in that behalf
under this Act or any rule, order or direction made or given
thereunder."
·ss2
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1966] 3 S.C.R.
Section 161 (I) states as follows :
"161. (I) Jn any case of alleged offence by the
Revenue Commissioner, the Commissioner, a Magistrate,
Police Officer or other person, or of a wrong alleged to
have been done by such Revenue Commissioner, Commissioner, Magistrate, Police Officer or other person, by any
act done under colour or in excess of any such duty or
authority as aforesaid, or wherein, it shall appear to the
Court that the offence or wrong if committed or done was
of the character aforesaid, the prosecution or suit shall
not be entertained, or shall be dismissed, if instituted,
more than six months after the date of the act complained
of."
It is manifest that in order that the accused person against whom
a prosecution has been launched may get the benefit of six months
period of limitation under the section, it must appear to the Court
·(I) that the offence was committed under colour of any duty imposed
or any authority conferred by any provisions of the Bombay Police
Act or any other law for the time being in force, or (2) that the
act was done in excess of any such duty or authority as aforesaid.
The question arising in this case, therefore, is whether the alleged
act of the respondent in accepting bribe was an act done under
colour of the duty imposed or the authority conferred on the
respondent by any provision of law or in excess of any such duty
-or authority as aforesaid. In examining this question it is necessary,
in the first place, to ascertain what act is complained of and then
to see if there is any provision of the Bombay Police Act or any
other law under which it may be said to have been done or purported to have been done. In this connection, it is important to
'femember that an act is not done under colour of an office merely
because the point of time at which it is done coincides with the
point of time the accused is invested with the powers or duty of the
office. To be able to say that an act was done under the colour
-of an office
one must
discover
a reasonable
connection
between the act alleged and the duty or authority imposed on the
accused by the Bombay Police Act or other statutory enactrD;ent.
Unless there is a reasonable connection between the act complained
of and the powers and duties of the office, it is diffi.cult to say that
the act was done by the accused officer under the colour of his
office.
For example, if a police officer is prosecuted for an off~mce
under s. 323 of the Indian Penal Code said to have been com!Illtted
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in making an arrest, the prosecution must fail unless c?mmenced
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within six months of the act complained of, as reqmred by s.
161(1) of the Bombay Police Act. Again, if the prosecution is for
an offence under ~. 304, Indian Penal Code said to have been com-
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MAHARASHTRA v. NARHARRAO (Ramaswami, !.)
883
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mitted in the process of dispersing an unlawful assembly under s.
128 of the Criminal Procednre Code, the limitation provided under
s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police Act will apply. Similarly, if the
prosecution is for an offence under s. 341 of the Indian Penal Code
said to have been committed by the Act of closing a street or passage in or near which a fire is burning in exercise of the powers
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under s. 152 of the Criminal Procedure Code, or for an offence
under s. 426 of the Indian Penal Code, said to have been committed by the pulling down of a house for the purpose of extinguishing
a fire, the prosecution must fail unless brought within the period
prescribed under s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police Act.
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But unless there is a reasonable connection between the act
complained of and the powers and duties of the office, it cannot
be said that the act was done by the accused officer under the colour
of his office. Applying this test to the present case, we are of the
opinion that the alleged acceptance of bribe by the respondent was
not an act which could be said to have been done under the colour
of his office or done in excess of his duty or authority within the
meaning of s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police Act. It follows, therefore,
that the High Court was in error in holding that the prosecution of
the respondent was barred because of the period of limitation prescribed under s. 161(1) of the Bombay Police Act. The view that
we have expressed is borne out by the decision of this Court in
The State of Andhra Pradesh v. N. Venugopal and others (1) in which
the Court had construed the language of a similar provision of s. 53
of the Madras District Police Act (Act of 24 of 1859). It was
pointed out in that case that the effect of s. 53 of that Act was that all
prosecutions whether against a police officer or a person other than
a police officer (e.g. a member of the Madras Fire Service, above the
rank of a fireman acting under s. 42 of the Act) must be commenced within three months after the act complained of, if the act is
one which has been done or intended to be done under any of the
provisions of the Police Act. In that case, the accused police officers
were charged under ss. 348 and 331 of the Indian Penal Code for
wrongly confining a suspect Arige Ramanna in the course of investigation and causing him injuries. The accused were convicted by
the Sessions Judge under ss. 348 and 331 of the Indian Penal Code
but in appeal the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that the bar under
s. 53 of the Police Act applied and the accused were entitled to an
acquittal. It was, however, held by this Court that the prosecution was not barred under s. 53 of the Police Act, for it cannot be
said that the acts of beating a person suspected of a crime or confining him or sending him away in an injured condition by the
police at a time when they were engaged in investigation are acts
done or intended to be done under the provisions of the Madras
District Police Act or Criminal Procedure Code or any other law
(I) (1964] 3 S.C.R. 742.
884
SUPREME COUllT REPORTS
[1966] 3 S.C.ll.
conferring powers on the police. The appeal was accordingly
allowed by this Court and the acquittal of the respondent set
aside.
On behalf of the respondent reference was made to the decision
of this Court in Virupaxappa Veerappa Kadampur v.Stateof Mysore(,').
But the ratio of that decision is not applicable to the present case.
In that case, a police officer authorised under the Bombay Prohibition Act to seize smuggled Ganja, prepared a false Panchnama
and a false report as regards the seizure of the Ganja and it was
held by this Court that the provisions of s. 161(1) of the Bombay
Police Act were applicable. It is clear that in that case it was
the duty of the police Head Constable to prepare a Panchnama
and the act of preparation of false Panchnama was, therefore, done
under the colour of his office. There was hence a nexus between the
act complained of and the statutory duty that the police Head
Constable was to perform and the provisions of s. 161(1) of the
Bombay Police Act were applicable. In the present case the
material facts are quite different.
For the reasons expressed, we allow this appeal, set aside
the judgment of the High Court acquitting tile respondent and
order that the appeal should go back in remand to the High Court
for being re-heard and dealt with in accordance with law.
Appeal allowed·
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(l~l%i1 Supp. 2 s.c.R.6
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