SHARIFUL HASAN Vs. LACHMI NARAIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a defendants appeal arising out of a suit for damages for malicious arrest. The case has had rather a chequered history and it is necessary to recite the facts. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant who was a Sub-Inspector of Police cherished malice against him and arrested him wrongfully in excess of his authority and sent him to Agra handcuffed. The suit was brought within two years of the said arrest but more than 90 days after it. The defendant pleaded that he was acting in pursuance of his statutory duty and the claim was barred by limitation. He also denied that there was any malice on his part.

(2.) Mr. Banerji the Munsif who first heard the case framed issue 2 as follows: Whether the defendant acted bona fide in the performance of his duties or the arrest of the plaintiff was illegal and malicious.

(3.) He found that the arrest was not malicious and the suit was not barred by limitation, but he pointed out certain circumstances which showed that the Sub- Inspector had some malicious feelings against the plaintiff.