Legal provisions regarding Intentional omission to apprehend on the part of public servant bound to apprehend person under sentence or lawfully committed under section 222 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Intentional omission to apprehend on the part of public servant bound to apprehend person under sentence or lawfully committed:
“Whoever, being a public servant, legally bound as such public servant to apprehend or to keep in confinement any person under sentence of a Court of Justice for any offence or lawfully committed to custody, intentionally omits to apprehend such person, or intentionally suffers such person to escape or intentionally aids such person in escaping or attempting to escape from such confinement, shall be punished as follows, that is to say;
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with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to fourteen years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, is under sentence of death; or
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement or who ought to have been apprehended, is subject, by a sentence of a Court of Justice, or by virtue of a commutation of such sentence, to imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of ten years or upwards; or
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended is subject, by a sentence of a Court of Justice, to imprisonment for a term not extending to ten years or if the person was lawfully committed to custody.”
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Section 22 has similarity with the preceding Section. The only point of distinction is that under Section 222 the person to be apprehended has already been convicted or committed for an offence. Thus, the offence under Section 222 is an aggravated form of offence under Section 221.
The points requiring proof under Section 222 are:
(i) The accused was a public servant;
(ii) He was legally bound;
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(iii) To apprehend or keep in confinement;
(iv) Some other person who was under sentence of a Court of Justice or had been lawfully committed to custody.
(v) The sentence was for some offence;
(vi) The accused omitted to apprehend him, or intentionally suffered him to escape, or intentionally aided him in escaping or facilitated an attempt to escape;
(vii) The person who ought to have been apprehended was-
(a) Under sentence of death; or
(b) Under sentence of imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years.
The offence under Section 222 is cognizable but warrant should ordinarily issue. It is non-bailable and non-compoundable and is triable by the Court of Session or a Magistrate of the first class.