S B SHAHANE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Judgment dated 31st July 1981, by which a Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench, rejected the Special Leave Application No. 317 of 1979 filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India by the appellants herein, is appealed against by them in this Civil Appeal by special leave.

(2.) The appellants were the Police Prosecutors appointed by the Inspector General of Police or Commissioner of Police in the State of Maharashtra under Rule 60 of the Bombay Police Manual, 1959 - "the Manual". On their appointment, they became the personnel of the Maharashtra State's Police Department (Establishment) under the control of the head of the Department, the Inspector General of Police, as provided for under Rule 32 of the Manual. After the coming into force of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - "the Code", the Government of Maharashtra issued a Notification dated 1st April, 1974, which read thus:

(3.) When the above notification was issued by the Government of Maharashtra under Section 25 of the Code appointing the Police Prosecutors of its Police Department as the Assistant Public Prosecutors to conduct prosecutions in Courts of Magistrates, without bringing about their severance from the Police Department, the appellants filed the aforesaid Special Leave Application seeking from the High Court issuance of a direction to the Government of Maharashtra for their exclusion from its Police Department so as to free them from the administrative and disciplinary control of the Inspector General of Police, the head of the Police Department and create a separate cadre of Assistant Public Prosecutors for them under a separate prosecution Department, making its head directly responsible to Government. When that application was rejected by the Division Bench of the High Court, the judgment of that rejection is questioned by the appellants in this appeal by special leave.