A private person's complaint cannot be used by a metropolitan magistrate to prosecute a public servant for works undertaken by him during the performance of his or her duties,a Delhi court has said. "Owing to character of certain offences as affecting the lawful authority of public servants or public justice,the right to prosecute has been restricted and the courts are prohibited for taking cognisance of offences unless and until public servants or the courts directly concerned themselves make the complaint," Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said. Lau said the CrPC casts an obligation upon the courts to protect the public servants against the criminal liability for actions performed in discharge of duties and to protect them from any kind of vexatious and baseless prosecution spited by feeling of vindictiveness on the part of private individuals. The court made these observations while allowing revision petition of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Gurmeet Singh and set aside summoning order issued against him by a metropolitan magistrate on a complaint by Ramesh Chawla in May. Chawla had sought prosecution of Singh and other police person and Rajeev Arora,a private person,for lodging a false FIR against him with Model Town police station in 2001. Chawla and Arora had at that time lodged cross cases against each other. "In the present case,the Metropolitan Magistrate had granted the permission only to prosecute Arora and not the revisionist Singh who was then Station House Officer and there is no complaint in writing of that court or by such officer of that court or of some other court to which that court is subordinate," the court noted,providing relief to Singh. It further said that Section 197 of CrPC is very clear and it provides immunity which extends to acts done in discharge of official duty by a public servant.
