On June 16, 2025, the Kerala High Court ruled that custodial torture cannot be disguised as part of a police officer’s official duty. It refused to allow police officers to escape prosecution merely due to the absence of government sanction. The judgment came in Sudha v. State of Kerala & Ors., where Justice Dr. Kauser Edappagath nullified the sessions court order that had discharged the police officers facing allegations of custodial violence.
The Court was dealing with a revision petition filed by Sudha, a Scheduled Caste woman, who was falsely accused of theft by her employers and subjected to brutal police torture. She was beaten with sticks, dragged across the floor, and threatened inside the Fort Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram. Medical records confirmed her injuries, and she was admitted to the hospital the next day.
Advocates V. Sajith Kumar, Josie Mathew, Neena J. Kalyan, and Ammu M. appeared on behalf of Sudha. Advocate A.S. Shammy Raj represented the police officers. Senior Public Prosecutor E.C. Bineesh appeared for the State.
Despite the existence of prima facie evidence, the trial court discharged the police officers on the ground that prior sanction under Section 197(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code was not obtained. The High Court disagreed. Quoting the settled law, Justice Edappagath observed:
“The act of custodial torture inflicted by a police officer without justification on an arrestee cannot be shielded under the protective mantle of Section 197 of CrPC.”
The Court reaffirmed that protection under Section 197 applies only when there is a “reasonable connection with the discharge of official duty,” and further clarified:
“It can never be said that a police officer acts or purports to act in discharge of his official duty when he inflicts custodial torture on an arrestee.”
Justice Edappagath stressed that failing to act against such abuse would undermine public trust in the justice system:
“Police excesses and the maltreatment of detainees/undertrial prisoners or suspects tarnish the image of any civilised nation and encourage the men in ‘Khaki’ to consider themselves to be above the law… unless stern measures are taken to check the malady, the foundations of the criminal justice delivery system would be shaken.”
Accordingly, the High Court overturned the sessions court’s order to the extent it had discharged the police officers. It restored the charges and directed the trial court to frame charges and continue with the proceedings. The Court held that the actions of the accused officers bore “no reasonable connection with their official duties” and that their justification of acting in official capacity was “pretended or fanciful.”
Click here to access the judgment
Case Title: Sudha v. State of Kerala & Ors.
Case Number: Crl. Rev. Pet. No. 1130 of 2017
Bench: Hon’ble Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath
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