Sanction U/S 188 CrPC Not Needed To Take Cognizance Of Foreign Offence, But Mandatory Before Trial: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has reiterated that sanction under Section 188 of CrPC is not required at the stage of taking cognizance of an offence committed outside India, while it is required for commencement of the trial.For context, section 188 of CrPC deals with the procedure, when an offence is committed outside India. Justice C Pratheep Kumar while dealing with a criminal revision petition observed,"At the stage of taking cognizance of an offence, sanction under Section 188 of Cr.P.C is not required, while it is required for commencement of the trial."The prosecution case in the present case was that the accused committed rape upon CW 1 in the bedroom of a rented house in Kuwait. The police registered the crime on the basis of the statement given by the defacto complainant, and after conducting investigation filed a report before the Judicial First Class Magistrate. The case was later committed to the Court of Session which was then made over to the Additional Sessions Judge, Manjeri. The defense counsel at this juncture raised the question of jurisdiction of the Sessions Judge to try the case in view of Section 188 of Cr.PC. The counsel contended that since the offence took place in Kuwait, a foreign country, previous sanction of the Central Government as required under Section 188 Cr.PC was necessary. It was further submitted that since the proceedings are initiated against the accused without obtaining the sanction, the entire proceedings are void. The Court examined the Section 188 under CrPC to analyse whether the committal proceedings and subsequent proceedings before the Sessions Court are vitiated for want of sanction under Section 188.The Court relied on the decision in Nerella Chiranjeevi Arun Kumar v State of Andhra Pradesh [SLP 3978/ 2021] and Thota Venkateshwarlu v State of Andhra Pradesh through Principal Secretary and Anr [(2011) 9 SCC 527] to hold that at the stage of cognizance of an offence, sanction under Section 188 of CrPC is not required, while it is required for commencement of trial. The Court thus held that the Sessions Court was justified in taking cognizance of the offence. “However, it is made clear that the trial of the case cannot be commenced without obtaining sanction under Section 188 of Cr.P.C” Court concluded. With these directions, the Court disposed of the petition. Case Title: Suo Motu v State of Kerala and Anr Case No: Crl. RC 55/ 2017Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 43Counsel for Respondents: Benoj C Augustin, U M Hassan, P Parvathy, Rafeek VK, Saijo Hassan, Vishnu Bhuvanendran, Bindhu O V (PP)Click Here To Read/ Download Judgment

Sanction U/S 188 CrPC Not Needed To Take Cognizance Of Foreign Offence, But Mandatory Before Trial: Kerala High Court

Anamika MJ

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