{"id":259851,"date":"2023-09-13T20:22:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T14:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=259851"},"modified":"2023-09-13T20:22:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T14:52:04","slug":"no-filter-prior-approval-requirement-for-initiating-corruption-probes-is-not-desirable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/no-filter-prior-approval-requirement-for-initiating-corruption-probes-is-not-desirable\/","title":{"rendered":"No filter- Prior approval requirement for initiating corruption probes is not desirable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source:<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201cNo filter- Prior approval requirement for initiating corruption probes is not desirable<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 13th September 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus:<\/strong> GS2- Governance- Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> The Supreme Court stated that its 2014 decision, which nullified a law mandating government approval for probing high-ranking officials for corruption, applies retroactively to 2003. This impacts cases from 2003 to 2014, despite a 2018 amendment reintroducing a similar approval requirement.<\/p>\n

What does current law say about investigations for corruption?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Original Issue:<\/strong> Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act previously required the Central government\u2019s approval to start an investigation into corruption charges against high-ranked officials. This section was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2014.<\/p>\n

Current Provision:<\/strong> In 2018, the Prevention of Corruption Act was amended, introducing Section 17A.<\/p>\n

Mandatory Approval:<\/strong> Section 17A requires the government\u2019s prior approval before starting a probe into decisions or recommendations made by a public servant.<\/p>\n

Additional Safeguard:<\/strong> A sanction is still needed to prosecute any public servant when the trial court reviews the charge sheet.<\/p>\n

Implications:<\/strong> While these approval requirements can prevent baseless investigations, they might also impede genuine anti-corruption efforts, potentially shielding corrupt officials.<\/p>\n

What are the views of the Supreme Court on this matter?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Equality Concern:<\/strong> The Court held that Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act violated the norm of equality by protecting only a specific class of public servants.<\/p>\n

Retrospective Effect:<\/strong> The recent judgment clarified that the 2014 ruling applies retroactively from 2003, impacting cases between these years.<\/p>\n

Constitutional Consistency:<\/strong> Post-Constitution laws must align with the Constitution. If found inconsistent, their invalidation is effective from their inception.<\/p>\n

Approval Requirements:<\/strong> The Court observed that approval requirements can block anti-corruption goals, potentially hindering the truth and warning corrupt officials.<\/p>\n

Why are approval requirements controversial?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Objective of Anti-Corruption Laws:<\/strong> Such provisions can be destructive of the goal of anti-corruption laws.<\/p>\n

Truth Impediment:<\/strong> The approval requirements can block the truth from surfacing in cases of corruption allegations.<\/p>\n

Warning to Corrupt Officials:<\/strong> These provisions might act as a forewarning to officials once allegations arise against them.<\/p>\n

Balance of Interests:<\/strong> While it’s crucial to have measures that filter out unnecessary inquiries into public servants making genuine decisions, it’s equally vital that these provisions don’t protect dishonest officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article \u201cNo filter- Prior approval requirement for initiating corruption probes is not desirable\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 13th September 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Governance- Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability. News: The Supreme Court stated that its 2014 decision, which nullified a law mandating government approval for… Continue reading No filter- Prior approval requirement for initiating corruption probes is not desirable<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[300,212,10498],"class_list":["post-259851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}