Justice A Badharudeen explained that Section 188 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) lays down that when it comes to offences committed outside India, prior sanction from the Central Government is required to prosecute the case in India.
The Court added that if a part of such an offence had taken place in India, no such sanction would have been required to prosecute the accused in India.
However, in this case, the Court found that all the alleged actions tied to the criminal case were said to have taken place in Australia.
Therefore, the Court concluded that prosecution in India in relation to this case was invalid in the absence of prior Central Government sanction.
“The entire allegations, which would attract offences under Section 498A of IPC alleged to be committed by the 1st accused is outside India, and the matter definitely would come with the ambit of Section 188 of Cr.P.C. Therefore, the present proceedings without obtaining prior sanction as contemplated under Section 188 Cr.P.C. is vitiated,” the Court held.
Source: Barandbench
