The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the State government’s 2021 notification, which has declared the officers of the Central Crime Branch (CCB), Bengaluru, of and above the rank of inspector as the ‘superior officers’ of the station house officers (SHOs) of all the police stations in the city.
In view of their deputation to the CCB, these police officers can exercise all the powers and functions as ‘superior officer’ of a police station and have the power to file the final report or chargesheet under the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) in view of Section 36 of Cr.PC, which empowers the police officers superior in rank to an officer in charge of a police station to exercise the same powers, the court said.
Justice K. Natarajan passed the order while dismissing the petitions filed by Ditul Mehta and others. The petitioners had questioned the legality of the February 25, 2021, notification as well as transfer of alleged dowry harassment case against them to the CCB, and the chargesheet filed by the CCB against them.
