'Government OK must to act against errant babus'

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court has ruled that special anti-corruption courts cannot take cognizance of even a private complaint against government officials on corruption charges without prior sanction from the state government.
The HC said that in absence of a valid sanction from the government, no complaint or application for registration of an FIR on corruption charges against a government official can be looked into the court.
This order came in connection with a complaint of corruption filed by one Vinod Patel against 19 government officials. A trial court dropped the inquiry into the case for want of sanction to prosecute the officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court cited a Supreme Court order in this regard.
Patel moved the HC and argued that if the SC order keeps on being applied in each case and corruption charges against a higher ranking public servant are not looked into or entertained by the police, then the only recourse available with the complainant is to approach a court for registration of FIR. “If such a private complaint is also not to be entertained on the ground that a valid sanction under Section 19 of the PC Act is a must along with the private complaint, then that would lead to a very absurd situation,“ the petitioner argued.
Justice J B Pardiwala elaborated on legal position that court takes cognizance of the case when it orders police investigation under Section 156(3) of the CrPC. “Even when the court applies its mind on referring the complaint to police for investigation, the cognizance can be said to have been taken by the court.At this stage also, the court should have government sanction,“ the HC observed.