Karnataka HC rules Superintendent of Police cannot exercise externment powers under Karnataka Police Act; notification quashed

The petitioner challenged the notification dated 18 November 2025 issued by the Under Secretary, Home Department, which purported to confer powers under Sections 55 and 56 of the Karnataka Police Act, 1963 (“the Act”) upon the Superintendent of Police, Belagavi.

The petitioner also challenged the consequential externment order dated 28 April 2026 passed by the Superintendent of Police/Special Executive Magistrate, Belagavi, under Section 55 of the Act.

The State relied upon the notification to justify the conferment of jurisdiction.

During the hearing, the State fairly conceded that the notification had not been published in the Official Gazette, as required by Section 55.

Whether the notification dated 18 November 2025 was legally effective to extend the powers under Sections 55 and 56 of the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, in the absence of publication in the Official Gazette?

Whether the State Government could, by notification or executive action, confer powers under Sections 55 and 56 of the Act upon the Superintendent of Police, when Section 55 identifies only the Commissioner, District Magistrate, or specially empowered Sub-Divisional Magistrate as competent authorities?

Whether the externment order dated 28 April 2026, passed by the Superintendent of Police pursuant to the impugned notification, was sustainable in law?

Section 55 empowers the Commissioner in areas covered by Section 7 and, in other areas, permits the Government—by notification in the Official Gazette—to extend the provision only to the jurisdictional District Magistrate or specially empowered Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

Section 56 similarly identifies the Commissioner, District Magistrate, or specially empowered Sub-Divisional Magistrate as the competent authorities for removal of persons convicted of specified offences.

A statutory notification requiring publication in the Official Gazette acquires legal efficacy only upon such publication.

Further, where a statute prescribes the competent authority and the manner of exercising power, executive instructions or notifications cannot substitute an authority not contemplated by the statute.

The Court relied on State of U.P. v. Singhara Singh, AIR 1964 SC 358, and Vijay Singh v. State of U.P., (2001) 9 SCC 363, for the rule that statutory power must be exercised by the designated authority and in the prescribed manner; and on Sangeeta Suryavanshi v. State of Chhattisgarh, AIR 1991 SC 772, and Sri Kedar Nath v. Mool Chand, AIR 1953 All 62, for the principle that executive action cannot amend or enlarge the statutory description of a competent authority.

The Court held that the notification was ineffective because it had admittedly not been published in the Official Gazette, thereby failing the express statutory condition in Section 55.

Independently, the Court found that the Superintendent of Police did not fall within any of the statutory categories of competent authorities under Sections 55 and 56.

The expression “District Magistrate” or “Sub-Divisional Magistrate” could not be administratively expanded to include a Superintendent of Police, and the Government could not cure this inherent lack of jurisdiction through an executive notification, even if that notification were subsequently published.

Since the externment order was passed by an authority lacking statutory competence, the exercise of power was without jurisdiction and all consequential proceedings based upon it were unsustainable.

The Court declared the notification dated 18 November 2025 non-est and a nullity, insofar as it purported to appoint or confer powers under the Karnataka Police Act, including Sections 55 and 56, upon the Superintendent of Police.

The externment order dated 28 April 2026 was quashed.

The Court clarified that the decision did not prevent the competent statutory authority from taking any action permissible under law, provided it strictly complied with the Karnataka Police Act, 1963.