Dimapur, June 25 (MExN): Nagaland Health & Family Welfare Minister, Imkong L. Imchen, might lose political protection under law for the February 18 incident, wherein he was caught with cash amounting to Rs.1.10 crore, arms, ammunition and liquor near Longsa village, Wokha right before the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) election this year.
The Wokha police, on May 10, 2013, had written to the Speaker of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) seeking sanction to prosecute Imchen. The Secretary of the Assembly had then asked for the advice of the Director General of Police’s (DGP) office on the matter.
“Prosecution sanction in the former home minister’s case will not be required. Since he was not on duty on the day of the incident, the question of prosecution sanction through Section 197 CrPC does not arise. This is the reading we have given to the Secretary of the NLA,” stated the Nagaland Inspector General of Police (IGP). “The Investigating Officer can now go ahead and file a charge sheet,” he reiterated. A copy of this reading from the Police Head Quarters has been received by the office of the investigating agency (Wokha).
Section 197 CrPC protects responsible public servants against the institution of possibly vexatious criminal proceedings for offences alleged to have been committed by them WHILE they are acting or purporting to act as public servants.
The section, however, does not extend its protective cover to every act or omission done by a public servant in service. The prosecution sanction was thus requisitioned from the NLA by the Wokha police to be on the political “safe side” and asked the Speaker to ensure “abundant quotient”. In other words, a prosecution sanction might or might not be required in the case at all for the investigating agency to take the case ahead by filing a charge sheet.
“Such cases cannot go forward without the Speaker’s permission. But if they decide to make it a criminal case, the investigating agency can go ahead with filing a charge sheet without such permission,” informed Besesayo Keso, Nagaland DGP.
Imchen’s case has been registered under case no. 19/13 of Wokha Police Station under section 171(E)/171(F)/188 IPC read with 25 (1AA) Arms Act read with 44 NLTP Act read with 77(3) R.P. Act 1951. Imchen was arrested along with four others including his son, a PSO ASI, driver and domestic helper.
The Secretary of the NLA, A.E. Lotha, when asked about the Police Headquarters’ reading, stated that the decision is now for the Speaker to make. The Speaker, Chotisuh Sazo, declined to comment on the case as the NLA awaits more legal advice from other quarters before the question of political sanction is surpassed. Representatives of the investigating agency, like the SP of Wokha, refused to comment on the case citing “sensitivity” as the reason.
