Prevention of Corruption Act - requirement of sanction for launching prosecution - not unconstitutional - Supreme Court
IN a PIL, a practicing advocate has challenged in the Supreme Court Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 which requires sanction of the Government to prosecute Public Servants, as unconstitutional. He wants prosecution of all cases registered and investigated under the provisions of PC Act against the politicians, M.L.As, M.Ps and Government officials, without sanction as required under Section 19 of the PC Act. He avers that the provision for sanction as a condition precedent for prosecution is being used by the Government of India and the State Governments to protect dishonest and corrupt politicians and Government officials. The discretion to grant sanction has been misused.
The Supreme Court held that:
Requirement of sanction has salutary object of protecting an innocent public servant against unwarranted and mala fide prosecution. Undoubtedly, there can be no tolerance to corruption which undermines core constitutional values of justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. At the same time, need to prosecute and punish the corrupt is no ground to deny protection to the honest. Mere possibility of abuse cannot be a ground to declare a provision, otherwise valid, to be unconstitutional. The exercise of power has to be regulated to effectuate the purpose of law.
The Supreme Court also observed that the issue is no longer res integra. The matter has already been dealt with in various decisions of this Court. The Court referred top the famous cases of Vineet Narain and Subramanian Swamy and observed that it is not possible to hold that the requirement of sanction is unconstitutional, the competent authority has to take a decision on the issue of sanction expeditiously as already observed. A fine balance has to be maintained between need to protect a public servant against mala fide prosecution on the one hand and the object of upholding the probity in public life in prosecuting the public servant against whom prima facie material in support of allegation of corruption exists, on the other hand.