Corrupt shall be prosecuted: SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday decisively intervened to stem corruption in the political system when it ordered that public servants, including chief ministers, MPs and MLAs, can be prosecuted without any prior sanction.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decisively intervened to stem corruption in the political system when it ordered that public servants, including chief ministers, MPs and MLAs, can be prosecuted without any prior sanction.
A Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and SH Kapadia held that sanction under Section 197 CrPC — a favourite of tainted politicians — was not necessary for prosecution of corrupt public servants because taking a bribe while in office would not form part of discharge of official duties.
The court passed this order while dismissing a batch of appeals filed by railway minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, former chief minister of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal, former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran and several former ministers who had challenged the sanction accorded for prosecuting them. In its order, the Bench said there are limits to the protection granted under section 197 of CrPC.
“It is available only when the alleged act done by the public servant is reasonably connected with the discharge of his official duty and not merely a cloak for doing the objectionable act.... It is the quality of the act which is important and protection of this section is available if the act falls within the scope and range of his official duty,” said Justice Pasayat writing the judgement for the Bench.
Section 197 of CrPC requires sanction for court to take cognisance of an offence committed by a public servant, not removable from office except with the sanction of the government, in the discharge of his or her official duty.
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The well-deserved judicial intervention comes in the backdrop of the refusal of the political class to break the mould and set standards of public accountability. There is expectation that the judgement will go a long way in checking amoral and indefensible practices by politicians.But not all are equally sanguine. While conceding that there should be a place for judicial activism, they fear that this judgement could become an instrument of political vendetta — change of regimes, a frequent feature in Indian political landscape, could see politicians using the order to fix their rivals.
There have already been instances of cases against politicians surfacing after change of government in states like Tamil Nadu. The judgement could also give legitimacy to stereotyping of politicians as a group that is not worthy of trust. A large section of middle-class India subscribes to this feeling.
There is also a section that feels that the judgement will not make any real difference. For, agencies that are empowered to seek prosecution of the corrupt, like the CBI and the police, function under the iron grip of the political executive. Here, all important decisions are taken with the leadership’s silent consent.
Coming back to the judgement, in the case of Mr Karunakaran, the apex court referred the matter to the high court and directed that the matter be decided within three months. It also asked the parties to place the relevant material before it to decide whether there was any malafide intention to prosecute him in the palm oil import case.
In the case of Mr Badal, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress minister Rajender Kaur Bhattal, the apex court said the trial would continue.
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