EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS.versusTHE STATE OF GUJARAT

                         [2019] 13 S.C.R. 741                         741


                 EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS.                             A
                                v.
                   THE STATE OF GUJARAT
                (Criminal Appeal No. 1692 of 2009)
                                                                      B
                       OCTOBER 16, 2019
      [DEEPAK GUPTA AND ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.]
      Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Preventive) Act, 1987 –
s. 20-A(1) – Compliance of – Three accused persons were stopped
and personally searched by the police – Police recovered one          C
foreign made pistol and 2 country made tamancha from them – FIR
was registered u/ss. 25(1)(Ba), 27 of the Arms Act and s. 135 of
the Bombay Police Act and u/s. 5 of TADA Act and arrangement
was made for obtaining the sanction of the District Superintendent
of Police u/s. 20(A(1) of the TADA Act – Appellants contended that
                                                                      D
in terms of s. 20-A(1) of TADA Act, no information about
commission of offence could have been recorded under TADA Act
without the approval of the District Superintendent of Police and
therefore, it vitiates the entire proceeding under TADA Act – Held:
Provisions of s.20-A(1) are mandatory – It forbids the recording
of information about the commission of offence under TADA Act         E
by the police without prior approval of the District Superintendent
of Police – The bar u/s. 20-A(1) of TADA applies to information
recorded u/s. 154 Cr.P.C. – This bar will not apply to a rukka or
a communication sent by the police official to the District
Superintendent of police seeking his sanction – No information
                                                                      F
can be recorded u/s. 154 Cr.P.C. for commission of an offence
under TADA Act without the sanction of the competent authority –
Further, it has to be seen that where the information basically
discloses an offence under TADA Act and the other offence is more
in the nature of an ancillary offence then the information cannot
be recorded without complying with the provisions of s.20-A(1) of     G
TADA Act – This will have to be decided in the facts of each case
– In the instant case, the only information recorded which
constitutes an offence was recovery of the arms – The area where
accused were carrying arms was notified area under TADA Act and
carrying arms in notified area is itself an offence under TADA Act
                                                                      H
                               741
742           SUPREME COURT REPORTS                     [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     – There were no other offences of rape, murder etc. in this case
      – Therefore in the present case, non-compliance of s. 20-A(1)
      vitiates the proceedings under the TADA Act – Accordingly,
      appellants discharged in so far as the offence under TADA Act is
      concerned, however, they can be proceeded against under the
      provisions of the Arms Act – Arms Act 1959 – ss. 25(1)(Ba), 27 –
B
      Bombay Police Act – s.135.
            Allowing the appeal, the Court
            HELD: 1.The language of the Section 20-A of the
      Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 is
C     mandatory in nature. It starts with a non-obstante clause. It
      forbids the recording of information about the commission of
      offence under TADA Act by the police without prior approval of
      the District Superintendent of Police. [Para 6] [747-C]
            2. The word ‘FIR’ is not used in Section 154 of CrPC,
D     though it is now commonly used with regard to information
      recorded under Section 154. Therefore, whenever information
      relating to commission of a cognizable offence is given orally
      then the officer-in-charge of the police station is bound to record
      that information in a book to be kept for such offences in such
      form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf.
E     What is prohibited under Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act is the
      recording of information. It can be presumed that the Legislature
      while introducing Section 20-A(1) in TADA Act was also aware
      of the provisions of Section 154 of CrPC. Therefore, the clear-
      cut intention was that no information of commission of an offence
F     under TADA Act would be recorded by the police under Section
      154 of CrPC without sanction of the competent authority. The
      reason why Section 20-A(1) was introduced into TADA Act in
      the year 1993 by amendment was that because the provisions
      of TADA Act were very stringent, the Legislature felt that a
      senior official should look into the matter to ensure that an
G     offence under TADA is made out and then grant sanction. [Para
      13] [751-C-E]
            3. The bar under Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act applies to
      information recorded under Section 154 of CrPC. This bar will
      not apply to a rukka or a communication sent by the police official
H     to the District Superintendent of Police seeking his sanction.
    EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS. v. STATE OF GUJARAT                     743


Otherwise, there could be no communication seeking sanction,         A
which could not have been the purpose of TADA Act. [Para 14]
[751-F]
      4. Each case is to be decided on its own facts. The police
official, not being the District Superintendent of Police, may
receive information of commission of an offence and may reach        B
the scene of a crime. He can record the information on the spot
and then send a rukka to the police station for recording of FIR.
There may be cases of serious offences like murder, rape,
offences under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,
1985, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,
2012 etc. where any delay in investigation is fatal. In these        C
cases, the police officer is entitled to record the information
some of which may indicate an offence under TADA Act, also
because non-recording of the information with regard to the main
offence may delay the investigation and hamper proper
investigation in the matter. In such cases, while recording the      D
information and recording the FIR, for the offences falling under
TADA Act, the police officials concerned can approach the
District Superintendent of Police for sanction under Section 20-
A(1) of TADA Act. The investigation in serious cases of murder,
rape, smuggling, narcotics, POCSO Act etc. cannot be delayed
only because TADA Act is also involved. [Para 15] [751-G-H;          E
752-A-C]
       5. At the same time, where the information basically
discloses an offence under TADA Act and the other offence is
more in the nature of an ancillary offence then the information
cannot be recorded without complying with the provisions of          F
Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act. This will have to be decided in
the facts of each case. In the case in hand, the only information
recorded which constitutes an offence is the recovery of the
arms. The police officials must have known that the area is a
notified area under TADA Act and, therefore, carrying such arms
                                                                     G
in a notified area is itself an offence under TADA Act. It is true
that this may be an offence under the Arms Act also but the basic
material for constituting an offence both under the Arms Act and
TADA Act is identical i.e. recovery of prohibited arms in a
notified area under TADA Act. The evidence to convict the
accused for crimes under the Arms Act and TADA Act is also           H
744            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     the same. There are no other offences of rape, murder etc. in
      this case. Therefore, as far as the present case is concerned,
      non-compliance of Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act is fatal and there
      is no other option but to discharge the appellants in so far as
      the offence under TADA Act is concerned. This Court makes it
      clear that they can be proceeded against under the provisions
B
      of the Arms Act. [Para 16] [752-D-F]
            Rangku Dutta @ Ranjan Kumar Dutta v. State of
            Assam (2011) 6 SCC 358 : [2011] 8 SCR 639;
            Anirudhsinhji Karansinhji Jadeja & Anr. v. State of
            Gujarat (1995) 5 SCC 302 : [2012] 12 SCR 1033 ;
C           Ashrafkhan & Anr. v. State of Gujarat (2012) 11 SCC
            606 : [2012] 12 SCR 1033 ; Hussein Ghadially &
            Ors. v. State of Gujarat (2014) 8 SCC 425 : [2014] 9
            SCR 364 – relied on.
                              Case Law Reference
D
      [2011] 8 SCR 639                    relied on             Para 7
      [2012] 12 SCR 1033                  relied on             Para 8
      [2012] 12 SCR 1033                  relied on             Para 9
      [2014] 9 SCR 364                    relied on             Para 10
E
            CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
      No. 1692 of 2009.
           From the Judgment and Order dated 16.07.2009 of the
      Designated Court at Porbandar in Special TADA Case No. 6 of 1995.
F           Sanjay Jain, Sudarshan Singh Rawat, Advs. for the Appellants.
           Aniruddha P. Mayee, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Advs. for the
      Respondent.
            The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G           DEEPAK GUPTA, J.
            1. This appeal by the accused is directed against the order passed
      by the Designated TADA Court whereby the application filed by the
      accused that they should be discharged due to non-compliance of
      Section 20-A(1) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)
H     Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as ‘TADA Act”) was dismissed.
      EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS. v. STATE OF GUJARAT                          745
                   [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

       2. Briefly stated the facts of the case are that appellant no. 1/    A
accused no. 1, Ebha Arjun Jadeja, was wanted in Crime No. II-3/1994
registered against him under Section 25(1B)(a) and 27 of the Arms Act,
1959 and under Section 3 and 5 of TADA Act etc.
       3. The prosecution version is that on 10.04.1995, when Police
Inspector C.J. Singh along with some other police personnel was doing       B
night round in Kutiyana and was trying to keep a secret watch over
bootleggers, he received some information that appellant no. 1, who was
absconding in Crime No. II-3/1994, was coming to his village in a motor
vehicle. The police inspector arranged two witnesses and after preparing
preliminary panchnama, left Kutiyana in a Government jeep at about          C
1.00-1.15 a.m. They set up a naka and at about 2.45 a.m., one motor
vehicle came from the side of village Garej. The vehicle was asked to
stop and it stopped. Accused no. 1 was found sitting on the driver’s
seat. The police cordoned the motor vehicle in which two other persons
(appellant nos.2 and 3) were also sitting. All these three persons were     D
asked to get down and disclose their identities. On making personal
search of these three persons, following recoveries were made:
  S.       Name of the                      Recoveries
 No.         accused
 1.     Ebha Arjun               1. One foreign made 9mm beretta            E
        Jadeja                      pistol and three live cartridges
                                    and one fired cartridge, valued at
                                    Rs.1,50,150/-.

                                 2. One 32 bore foreign made
                                    revolver and 5 live cartridges,         F
                                    valued at Rs. 50,250/-.

                                 3. One fired cartridge
 2.     Bachchu Bhikha       One 315 bore country made tamancha,
        Mer                  valued at Rs. 3,000/-.
 3.     Keshu Chana          One 12 bore country made tamancha,             G
        Mer                  valued at Rs. 2,000/-.
       4. The three accused persons could not produce any licence and
the aforesaid arms were seized. Though the first information report (FIR)
was recorded under the Arms Act, in the very same FIR, the officer
also recorded as follows:                                                   H
746            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A           “One 9 MM semi automatic prohibited foreign made pistol and
            its cartridges loaded in it and Japan made revolver and its
            cartridges in a loaded condition were found from Mer Ebha
            Arjan. Out of which, it becomes from the smell coming from
            the barrel of the pistol and box that the same is used before some
            time for firing. From the two persons with Jadeja Ebha Arjan,
B
            namely, Mer Bachu Bhima and Mer Keshu Chana also, two
            country made tamanchas are found and Mer Ebha Arjan is a
            gang leader of gundas in Porbandar area and in that
            circumstances, the persons as above are found in an Ambassador
            car no.GJ-M-8905 and it appears that they are going to commit
C           any terrorist activity and so all the three persons were legally
            arrested for the offence under Sections 25(1)(Ba), 27 of the Arms
            Act and Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act and motor car
            Ambassador no.GJM-8905 valuing at Rs.100000/- was also
            seized in this case.
D           Hence, it is my complaint against them for the offence under
            Sections 25(1)(BA), 27 of the Arms Act and Section 135 of the
            Bombay Police Act. My witnesses are panchas with me and the
            police personnel and others who are found during the
            investigation.
E           The above persons were found in possession of weapons and
            cartridges from out of the weapons and explosives mentioned in
            Arms Rules 1962 Schedule-1 Class-1 and Class-3(A) Column
            no.2 and 3 in public area and hence, as the offence under Section
            5 of TADA Act is also made out and so, arrangement is made
            for obtaining the sanction of the District Superintendent of Police,
F
            Porbandar under Section 20(A)(1) of the Act, by making a report
            along with copies of the panchnama and F.I.R. and identification
            sheets of the accused.”
              5. Thereafter on the same day i.e. 10.04.1995, the District
      Superintendent of Police granted sanction to add Section 5 of TADA
G
      Act to the offences already registered. The grievance of the appellants
      is that in terms of Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act, no information about
      commission of offence under the Act could have been recorded without
      approval of the District Superintendent of Police. Therefore, it is
      contended that the entire initiation of the action wherein the Crime
H     No.II.28/1995 was recorded without sanction of the District
       EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS. v. STATE OF GUJARAT                            747
                    [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

Superintendent of Police, vitiates the entire proceedings in so far as         A
they have been initiated under TADA Act.
         6. Section 20-A of TADA Act reads as under:
         “20-A. Cognizance of offence.—(1) Notwithstanding anything
         contained in the Code, no information about the commission of
         an offence under this Act shall be recorded by the police without     B
         the prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police.
         (2) No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act
         without the previous sanction of the Inspector-General of Police,
         or as the case may be, the Commissioner of Police.”
                                                                               C
      The language of the Section is mandatory in nature. It starts with
a non-obstante clause. It forbids the recording of information about the
commission of offence under TADA Act by the police without prior
approval of the District Superintendent of Police.
       7. The provisions of Section 20-A(1) are mandatory. This issue          D
is no longer res integra. In Rangku Dutta @ Ranjan Kumar Dutta
v. State of Assam 1, this Court held that the provision, which was
couched in negative terms is mandatory in nature. Relevant portion of
the judgment reads as under:
         “18. It is obvious that Section 20-A(1) is a mandatory
                                                                               E
         requirement of law. First, it starts with an overriding clause and,
         thereafter, to emphasise its mandatory nature, it uses the
         expression “No” after the overriding clause. Whenever the intent
         of a statute is mandatory, it is clothed with a negative command.
         Reference in this connection can be made to G.P. Singh’s
         Principles of Statutory Interpretation, 12th Edn.…”                   F
       8. Learned counsel for the appellants also placed reliance on the
judgment of this Court in Anirudhsinhji Karansinhji Jadeja & Anr.
v. State of Gujarat2. In this case, the case was registered against the
accused initially under the Arms Act. The District Superintendent of
Police, instead of giving approval for recording information, made a           G
report to the Additional Chief Secretary, seeking permission to proceed
under TADA Act. Thereafter, the Additional Chief Secretary, Home
Department, gave sanction to proceed under TADA Act. Dealing with
1
    (2011) 6 SCC 358
2
    (1995) 5 SCC 302                                                           H
748               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     the issue whether Section 20-A(1) was violated and whether the
      prosecution was, therefore, vitiated, this Court has observed as under:
               “11. The case against the appellants originally was registered on
               19-3-1995 under the Arms Act. The DSP did not give any prior
               approval on his own to record any information about the
B              commission of an offence under TADA. On the contrary, he
               made a report to the Additional Chief Secretary and asked for
               permission to proceed under TADA. Why? Was it because he
               was reluctant to exercise jurisdiction vested in him by the provision
               of Section 20-A(1)? This is a case of power conferred upon one
C              authority being really exercised by another. If a statutory
               authority has been vested with jurisdiction, he has to exercise it
               according to its own discretion. If the discretion is exercised under
               the direction or in compliance with some higher authority’s
               instruction, then it will be a case of failure to exercise discretion
               altogether. In other words, the discretion vested in the DSP in
D
               this case by Section 20-A(1) was not exercised by the DSP at
               all.”
             9. Similar matter came up before this Court in Ashrafkhan &
      Anr. v. State of Gujarat3. Dealing with the issue of the consequences
E     of non-compliance of Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act, this Court held
      as follows:
               27. It is worth mentioning here that TADA, as originally enacted,
               did not contain this provision and it has been inserted by Section
               9 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)
F              Amendment Act, 1993 (43 of 1993). From a plain reading of the
               aforesaid provision it is evident that no information about the
               commission of an offence shall be recorded by the police without
               the prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police. The
               legislature, by using the negative word in Section 20-A(1) of
               TADA, had made its intention clear. The scheme of TADA is
G
               different than that of ordinary criminal statutes and, therefore,
               its provisions have to be strictly construed. Negative words can
               rarely be held directory. The plain, ordinary grammatical meaning
               affords the best guide to ascertain the intention of the legislature.
      3
H         (2012) 11 SCC 606
    EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS. v. STATE OF GUJARAT                            749
                 [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

      Other methods to understand the meaning of the statute is             A
      resorted to if the language is ambiguous or leads to absurd result.
      No such situation exists here. In the face of it, the requirement
      of prior approval by the District Superintendent of Police, on
      principle, cannot be said to be directory in nature.”

      Thereafter, reference was made to the various judgments of this       B
Court and it was held as under:

      “37. The plea of the State is that the Commissioner of Police
      having granted the sanction under Section 20-A(2) of TADA,
      the conviction of the accused cannot be held to be bad only on        C
      the ground of absence of approval under Section 20-A(1) by the
      Deputy Commissioner. As observed earlier, the provisions of
      TADA are stringent and consequences are serious and in order
      to prevent persecution, the legislature in its wisdom had given
      various safeguards at different stages. It has mandated that no
                                                                            D
      information about the commission of an offence under TADA
      shall be recorded by the police without the prior approval of the
      District Superintendent of Police. Not only this, further safeguard
      has been provided and restriction has been put on the court not
      to take cognizance of any offence without the previous sanction
      of the Inspector General of Police or as the case may be, the         E
      Commissioner of Police. Both operate in different and distinct
      stages and, therefore, for successful prosecution both the
      requirements have to be complied with. We have not come
      across any principle nor are we inclined to lay down that in a
      case in which different safeguards have been provided at different    F
      stages, the adherence to the last safeguard would only be relevant
      and breach of other safeguards shall have no bearing on the trial.
      Therefore, we reject the contention of the State that the accused
      cannot assail their conviction on the ground of absence of
      approval under Section 20-A(1) of TADA by the Deputy                  G
      Commissioner, when the Commissioner of Police had granted
      sanction under Section 20-A(2) of TADA.”

       The Court further held that non-compliance of Section 20-A was
not a curable defect and could not be cured in terms of Section 465 of
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC).                                    H
750               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A           10. Thereafter in Hussein Ghadially & Ors. v. State of
      Gujarat4, this Court dealing with Section 20-A of TADA Act held as
      follows:
               “21. A careful reading of the above leaves no manner of doubt
               that the provision starts with a non obstante clause and is couched
B              in negative phraseology. It forbids recording of information about
               the commission of offences under TADA by the police without
               the prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police…….”
            Thereafter, reference was made to the various judgments of this
      Court and it was held as under:
C              “29. The upshot of the above discussion, therefore, is that the
               requirement of a mandatory statutory provision having been
               violated, the trial and conviction of the petitioners for offences
               under TADA must be held to have been vitiated on that
               account…..”
D            11. The law is therefore, clear that if Section 20-A(1) of TADA
      Act is not complied with, then it vitiates the entire proceedings.
              12. On behalf of the respondents, it is urged that in terms of
      Section 154(1) of CrPC, an FIR has to be lodged whenever information
      of commission of a cognizable offence is received. It is also urged that
E     Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act bars the recording of information but it
      does not specifically bar registration of the FIR under the Arms Act.
      It is also urged that the District Superintendent of Police has to take a
      decision and, therefore, some information has to be placed before him
      and then only he can decide whether the sanction should be granted or
F     not. As far as the last submission is concerned, there can be no quarrel
      with respect to the same. Obviously, information will have to be given
      to the District Superintendent of Police but this information can be in
      the nature of a communication specifically addressed to the District
      Superintendent of Police and not in the nature of information being
      recorded in the Register or Book meant for recording of information
G     under Section 154 of CrPC. We may refer to the opening portion of
      Section 154 of CrPC, which reads as under:
               “154. Information in cognizable cases.-(1) Every information
               relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally
      4
H         (2014) 8 SCC 425
     EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS. v. STATE OF GUJARAT                               751
                  [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

      to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to          A
      writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the
      informant; and every such information, whether given in writing
      or reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person
      giving it, and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to
      be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government
                                                                                B
      may prescribe in this behalf:
                  xxx                  xxx                xxx”
       13. The word ‘FIR’ is not used in Section 154 of CrPC, though
it is now commonly used with regard to information recorded under
Section 154. Therefore, whenever information relating to commission             C
of a cognizable offence is given orally then the officer-in-charge of the
police station is bound to record that information in a book to be kept
for such offences in such form as the State Government may prescribe
in this behalf. What is prohibited under Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act
is the recording of information. We can presume that the Legislature
while introducing Section 20-A(1) in TADA Act was also aware of the             D
provisions of Section 154 of CrPC. Therefore, the clear-cut intention
was that no information of commission of an offence under TADA Act
would be recorded by the police under Section 154 of CrPC without
sanction of the competent authority. The reason why Section 20-A(1)
was introduced into TADA Act in the year 1993 by amendment was                  E
that because the provisions of TADA Act were very stringent, the
Legislature felt that a senior official should look into the matter to ensure
that an offence under TADA is made out and then grant sanction.
       14. The bar under Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act applies to
information recorded under Section 154 of CrPC. This bar will not apply         F
to a rukka or a communication sent by the police official to the District
Superintendent of Police seeking his sanction. Otherwise, there could
be no communication seeking sanction, which could not have been the
purpose of TADA Act.
       15. Each case is to be decided on its own facts. The police              G
official, not being the District Superintendent of Police, may receive
information of commission of an offence and may reach the scene of
a crime. He can record the information on the spot and then send a
rukka to the police station for recording of FIR. There may be cases
of serious offences like murder, rape, offences under Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Protection of Children from              H
752             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                             [2019] 13 S.C.R.


A     Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 etc. where any delay in
      investigation is fatal. In these cases, the police officer is entitled to record
      the information some of which may indicate an offence under TADA
      Act, also because non-recording of the information with regard to the
      main offence may delay the investigation and hamper proper
      investigation in the matter. In such cases, while recording the information
B
      and recording the FIR, for the offences falling under TADA Act, the
      police officials concerned can approach the District Superintendent of
      Police for sanction under Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act. The
      investigation in serious cases of murder, rape, smuggling, narcotics,
      POCSO Act etc. cannot be delayed only because TADA Act is also
C     involved.
             16. At the same time, where the information basically discloses
      an offence under TADA Act and the other offence is more in the nature
      of an ancillary offence then the information cannot be recorded without
      complying with the provisions of Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act. This
D     will have to be decided in the facts of each case. In the case in hand,
      the only information recorded which constitutes an offence is the
      recovery of the arms. The police officials must have known that the
      area is a notified area under TADA Act and, therefore, carrying such
      arms in a notified area is itself an offence under TADA Act. It is true
E     that this may be an offence under the Arms Act also but the basic
      material for constituting an offence both under the Arms Act and TADA
      Act is identical i.e. recovery of prohibited arms in a notified area under
      TADA Act. The evidence to convict the accused for crimes under the
      Arms Act and TADA Act is also the same. There are no other offences
      of rape, murder etc. in this case. Therefore, as far as the present case
F     is concerned, non-compliance of Section 20-A(1) of TADA Act is fatal
      and we have no other option but to discharge the appellants in so far
      as the offence under TADA Act is concerned. We make it clear that
      they can be proceeded against under the provisions of the Arms Act.
             17. As pointed out by us above, the situation may be different
G     where, to give an example, the police official finds a dead body, sees
      that a murder has taken place, apprehends a person, who is running
      away after committing the murder and from that person a prohibited
      arm is recovered in a notified area. In such a situation, the main offence
      is the offence of murder and the offence of carrying a prohibited
H     weapon in a notified area is the secondary offence under TADA Act.
     EBHA ARJUN JADEJA & ORS. v. STATE OF GUJARAT                              753
                  [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

Here, the police official can record the information and arrest the person     A
for committing an offence under Indian Penal Code,1860 but before
proceeding under TADA Act he will have to take sanction under Section
20-A(1) of TADA Act.
      18. In view of the above, the appeal is allowed, the order of the
Designated TADA Court is set aside and the appellants are discharged           B
from the offences under TADA Act but they may be proceeded against
under other provisions of law, if required. Pending application(s), if any,
stand(s) disposed of.


Ankit Gyan                                                   Appeal allowed.   C




                                                                               D




                                                                               E




                                                                               F




                                                                               G




                                                                               H