Principle Any police officer not below the rank of a sub inspector may if he is satisfied that an of...........

Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973 Others

Principle: Any police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector, may, if he is satisfied that an offence in respect of the infringement of copyright in any work has been, is being, or is likely to be, committed, seize without warrant, all copies of the work, and all plates used for the purpose of making infringing copies of the work, wherever found, and all copies and plates so seized shall, as soon as practicable, be produced before a Magistrate.

Facts: A Superintendent of Police (SP) conducted a raid on a shop and found pirated copies of books. The SP formed an opinion that infringement of copyright is taking place. He arrested the shop owner without warrant in the light of above mentioned propositions.

The arrest of the shop owner was within the power of the SP

The arrest of the shop owner was not within the power of the SP

The shop owner can never be arrested

SP was not competent to know whether infringement of copyright has taken plac

Explanation:

The principle mentions that any police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector shall be competent to 'seize' without warrant in case any copyright infringement is found. In the facts given, the Superintendent of Police (SP) made an 'arrest' which as per the principle is not within his powers.