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22. In State (Inspector of Police) v. Surya Sankaram Karri [(2006) 7 SCC 172 : (2006) 3 SCC (Cri) 225] , a two-Judge Bench of this Court had taken a contrary view without taking note of the earlier two-Judge Bench judgment in Kalpnath Rai [(1997) 8 SCC 732 : 1998 SCC (Cri) 134 : AIR 1998 SC 201] and held as under: (Surya Sankaram Karri [(2006) 7 SCC 172 :

(2006) 3 SCC (Cri) 225] , SCC p. 178, para 16) "16. ... When a statutory functionary passes an order, that too authorising a person to carry out a public function like investigation into an offence, an order in writing was required to be passed. A statutory functionary must act in a manner laid down in the statute. Issuance of an oral direction is not contemplated under the Act. Such a concept is unknown in administrative law. The statutory functionaries are enjoined with a duty to pass written orders."