Supreme Court held that, even though there is police excess, it was connected to (meaning part of) the investigation of a criminal case.
From Para 10,
D. T. Virupakshappa Vs C Subash on 27 Apr 201510. In our view, the above guidelines squarely apply in the case of the appellant herein. Going by the factual matrix, it is evident that the whole allegation is on police excess in connection with the investigation of a criminal case. The said offensive conduct is reasonably connected with the
performance of the official duty of the appellant. Therefore, the learned Magistrate could not have taken cognizance of the case without the previous sanction of the State Government. The High Court missed this crucial point in the impugned order.
Citations : [2015 AIR SC 2022], [2015 AD SC 5 462], [2015 AJR 4 624], [2015 AKR 2 755], [2015 CCR SC 2 350], [2015 CRIMES SC 4 214], [2015 JLJR 3 123], [2015 NCC 2 243], [2015 OLR SC 2 409], [2015 PLJR 3 204], [2015 RCR CRIMINAL 2 1001], [2015 SCJ 8 265], [2015 UC 2 867], [2015 SCC 12 231], [2016 SCC CRI 1 82], [2015 SCC ONLINE SC 390], [2015 SCR 5 534], [2015 GUJ LH 2 359], [2015 AIC 151 175], [2015 ECRN 3 176], [2015 CRI LJ 2589], [2015 ALT CRL SC 3 143]
Other Sources :
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/4302712/
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/5790b295e561097e45a4e2d0