Bengaluru: The high court has ruled that an officer of superintendent of police (SP) rank cannot exercise powers under Sections 55 and 56 of Karnataka Police Act, which deal with externment of certain categories of persons.Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the ruling on Aug 24 while allowing a petition filed by Chandrakant Shankar Vaddar, a resident of Nippani taluk in Belagavi district. The court also quashed the externment order passed against Vaddar by the SP of Belagavi on April 28, 2026, under Section 55 of the Act.Section 55 deals with the removal of persons believed to be about to commit offences, while Section 56 concerns the removal of persons convicted of certain offences.Under the Act, the commissioner of police is the competent authority in Bengaluru and other areas where a police commissionerate has been established under Section 7. Elsewhere, govt can, through a notification in the official gazette, extend these provisions only to the district magistrate (deputy commissioner) or sub-divisional magistrate (assistant commissioner) having jurisdiction and specifically empowered by govt.The state govt had, through a notification issued in Nov 2025,conferred these powers on the SP. Vaddar challenged both the notification and the externment order passed against him, primarily questioning the SP’s competence to issue the order.After examining Sections 55 and 56, Justice Magadum said the law clearly identifies the authorities competent to exercise the powers, and an SP does not fall within either category specified. The judge said the office or cadre of an SP could not be equated with that of a district magistrate or sub-divisional magistrate. An authority specifically identified by the legislature cannot be replaced through executive delegation, he held. Therefore, even a notification published in the official gazette could not cure the SP’s lack of statutory competence, the judge observed.The court declared the Nov 2025notification “non-est” and a nullity to the extent that it conferred powers under Karnataka Police Act on SPs.Consequently, it quashed the April 28 externment order. The court clarified that its order would not prevent the competent statutory authority from taking any action permissible under the law and in accordance with the Act.
