ULTIMATELY WHO IS RESPONSIBLE TO FOLLOW PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION ACT, 1988 ?

All Government functionaries are expected to assist the government in eradication of corruption and the government expects the public too to assist it in this field as without public cooperation it is not practicable to completely eradicate the corruption from the system of governance. For rooting out the corruption in the Government offices under section 19 of the prevention of corruption act, 1988 it is necessary for the prosecuting authority to have the previous sanction of the appropriate administrative authority for launching prosecution against a public servant. A public servant who is alleged to have committed an offence should be allowed to proceeded against in a court of law, unless on the basis of facts placed before it the sanctioning authority considers that there is no case for launching a prosecution. No sanction is required in respect of former Government servant who is no longer in service. The requirements of previous sanction is intended to afford a reasonable protection to a public servant, who in the course of strict and impartial discharge of his duties may offend persons and create enemies, from frivolous, malicious or vexatious prosecution and to save him from unnecessary harassment or undue hardship which may result from inadequate appreciation by police authorities of the technicalities of the working of the department. The prosecution of a Government servant for an offence challenging his honesty and integrity as well as competence has also a bearing on the morale of the public services. The administrative authority alone is in a position to assess and weigh the accusation on the basis of the background of their own intimate knowledge of the work and conduct of the public servant and the overall administrative interest of the state. Ultimately the sanctioning authority has an absolute discretion to grant or to withhold sanction after satisfying itself whether the material placed before it discloses a prima facie case against the person sought to be prosecuted. The sanctioning authority is the sole judge of the material that is placed before it. If the facts placed before it are not sufficient to enable it to exercise its discretion properly, it may ask for more particulars.