Given below are Legal Principles followed by a Factual Situation. Apply the principles followed by a factual Situation. Apply the principle to it and select the most appropriate answer for question among the four choices given.
LEGAL PRINCIPLE: Even if the sovereign functions of the state are discharged negligently the state is not vicariously liable in tort.
FACTUAL SITUATION: A is a gold merchant in India. He was arrested by police and was detained in the police lock up after search. The gold was seized and he was later on discharged. His gold seized and he was later on discharged. His gold seized by the police was not returned. He moved against the State in tort. In the words of Supreme Court " There can be no escape from the conclusion that the police officers were negligent in dealing with the gold after its seizure". One of police officers was a Muslim. He fled with gold to Pakistan.
DECIDE.
Given below are Legal Principles followed by a Factual Situation. Apply the principles followed by a factual Situation. Apply the principle to it and select the most appropriate answer for question among the four choices given.
LEGAL PRINCIPLE: Even if the sovereign functions of the state are discharged negligently the state is not vicariously liable in tort.
FACTUAL SITUATION: A is a gold merchant in India. He was arrested by police and was detained in the police lock up after search. The gold was seized and he was later on discharged. His gold seized and he was later on discharged. His gold seized by the police was not returned. He moved against the State in tort. In the words of Supreme Court " There can be no escape from the conclusion that the police officers were negligent in dealing with the gold after its seizure". One of police officers was a Muslim. He fled with gold to Pakistan.
DECIDE.
The correct option is A A cannot succeed because the acts of search and seizure by the Police Officer are part of the sovereign function of the State.
Sovereign functions are those functions of the State which are inalienable in nature and cannot be performed by anyone else except the State itself. It includes defence and law and order. The State is not answerable for these functions before any court of law due to matters of public policy. In India, sovereign immunity is guaranteed by virtue of Article 300 of the Constitution of India, 1950. In the case of Kasturilal Ralia Ram Jain v State of UP involving the same set of facts, the Court held that the power to arrest a person and search and seizure are granted to the police via a statute, so they qualify as sovereign powers. Hence even if it is proved that the police officers were negligent during the course of employment, the State could not be made answerable for these acts.
Sovereign functions are those functions of the State which are inalienable in nature and cannot be performed by anyone else except the State itself. It includes defence and law and order. The State is not answerable for these functions before any court of law due to matters of public policy. In India, sovereign immunity is guaranteed by virtue of Article 300 of the Constitution of India, 1950. In the case of Kasturilal Ralia Ram Jain v State of UP involving the same set of facts, the Court held that the power to arrest a person and search and seizure are granted to the police via a statute, so they qualify as sovereign powers. Hence even if it is proved that the police officers were negligent during the course of employment, the State could not be made answerable for these acts.
