Prevention of corruption Act - Arrest of and investigation against CCE - Joint Secretary cadre officer - No sanction required: HC
CENTRAL Excise Commissioner Dr.Anup Kumar Srivastava was arrested by CBI in Delhi on 13th January 2012 in a bribery case. He has challenged the taking cognizance of the offence and all investigation and judicial proceedings on the ground that he being a Joint Secretary level officer of the Central Government, no enquiry or investigation could be initiated against him for an offence falling under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) without the previous approval of the Central Government. He pleaded that despite the fact that he brought to the notice of the CBI, even prior to his arrest, that the approval under Section 6(A) of the DSPE Act was mandatory, the CBI in complete violation of the DSPE Act continued with the investigation and filed the charge-sheet. Even if the contention of the CBI was to be accepted that the time was short and they had to lay a trap to catch a public servant red-handed as per the CBI Crime Manual, the CBI could have taken the necessary approval before the arrest of the Petitioner even after start of investigation.
The Delhi High Court last week dismissed his petition holding that in this case, no sanction was required.