India, Nov. 12 -- The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday held that employees of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) qualify as "public servants" and therefore, are entitled to procedural protection against unwarranted prosecution while discharging their official duties.

The complainant, a practising lawyer from Dhule, had filed a private complaint at Sindhkheda police station this year alleging that certain individuals, in connivance with MIDC officials, had obtained allotment of plots in Nardana Industrial Area. The petitioner, Namrata Subhash Pawar, who works as a MIDC Assistant, was also alleged to be involved in offences of criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery.

In response to the comp...