Court caseAIR 1965 SC 1651

The appellant, a Magistrate, made an order under which the respondent was arrested and detained. The respondent sued the Magistrate for damages for wrongful arrest and detention, alleging that the order had been made without jurisdiction. The Magistrate claimed the protection of the Judicial Officers' Protection Act 1850, contending that the act complained of was done in the discharge of his judicial duty. The suit was decided against the Magistrate in the courts below, and he appealed to the Supreme Court. (The detailed facts of the arrest should be read in the report; the case is cited for its exposition of the Act.)

The Supreme Court explained the scope of s. 1 of the 1850 Act. Where a judicial officer acts within the limits of his jurisdiction, he is protected for any act done or ordered in the discharge of his judicial duty, however erroneous. Where he acts without jurisdiction, the Act protects him only if, at the time, he in good faith believed himself to have jurisdiction to do or order the act; the officer who claims the protection must establish that belief, and a belief cannot be held to be in good faith if it was formed without due care and attention. The Act protects acts done in a judicial capacity and does not extend to acts done in an executive or administrative capacity.