"The expression, 'official duty' implies that the act or omission must have been done by the public servant in the course of his service...In discharge of his duty," the court said.
The court observed that a prima facie case under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 167 (framing incorrect documents with intent to cause injury) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is "disclosed" against the eight Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers.
Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Navita Kumari pointed out no official sanction under section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was required for the prosecution of the accused IRS officers as the acts allegedly committed by them against the complainant and IRS officer S K Srivastava, were not done while discharging their official duties.
"Prima
