CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has issued a notification extending crucial legal protection to its entire police force, a move set to alter the procedural landscape for prosecuting officers for actions taken in the line of duty.
The notification, issued on Wednesday under the newly enacted Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), leverages Section 218(3) of the code. This provision allows state governments to extend legal safeguards—previously reserved for the Armed Forces and certain specified forces—to personnel engaged in maintaining public order.
Until now,the protection requiring prior government sanction before a court could prosecute a public servant was narrowly applied in Tamil Nadu. Under the old Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973 and its re-enactment as Section 218 of the BNSS, this safeguard was automatically available only to public servants appointed by the state or central government.
This left out the vast majority—estimated at over 95%—of the state's police personnel, particularly those in subordinate ranks. Officers from the Tamil Nadu Police Subordinate Service and the Tamil Nadu Special Police Subordinate Service could potentially be prosecuted for alleged offences related to their official duties without any requirement for prior government sanction.
The latest government order removes this 'disparity'.By invoking Section 218(3) BNSS, the state has now formally extended this protective cover to all ranks of the Tamil Nadu Police.
The immediate legal effect is clear-cut: henceforth, no court will be able to take cognizance of any offence alleged to have been committed by any Tamil Nadu police personnel while "acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duties" without the previous sanction of the State Government.
This establishes a uniform standard of legal procedure across the hierarchy, placing constables and sub-inspectors on the same procedural footing as senior officers appointed by the government.
The BNSS,which replaced the CrPC 1973, carried forward the essence of the sanction requirement from the old Section 197 CrPC to its Section 218. The Tamil Nadu government's notification is an exercise of the enabling power specifically provided within the new legal framework.