271. (1) No Bill or amendment to abolish or restrict the protection afforded to certain servants of the Crown in India by section one hundred and ninety-seven of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure, or by sections eighty to eighty-two of the Indian Code of Civil Procedure, shall be introduced or moved in either Chamber of the Federal Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion, or in a Chamber of a Provincial Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor in his discretion.
(2) The powers conferred upon a Local Government by the said section one hundred and ninety-seven with respect to the sanctioning of prosecutions and the determination of the court before which, the person by whom and the manner, in which, a public servant is to be tried, shall be exercisable only-
(a) in the case of a person employed in connection with the affairs of the Federation, by the Governor-General exercising his individual judgment; and
(b) in the case of a person employed in connection with the affairs of a Province, by the Governor of that Province exercising his individual judgment: Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as restricting the power of the Federal or a Provincial Legislature to amend the said section by a Bill or amendment introduced or moved with such previous sanction as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.
(3) Where a civil suit is instituted against a public officer, within the meaning of that expression as used in the Indian Code of Civil Procedure, in respect of any act purporting to be done by him in his official capacity, the whole or any part of the costs incurred by him and of any damages or costs ordered to be paid by him shall, if the Governor-General exercising his individual judgment so directs in the case of a person employed in connection with the affairs of the Federation, or if the Governor exercising his individual judgment so directs in the case of a person employed in connection with the affairs of a Province, be defrayed out of and charged on the revenues of the Federation or of the Province, as the case may be.