The State government is not required to make a microscopic examination of the materials submitted by the investigating officer for granting approval for a probe against a public servant under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, said the High Court of Karnataka.
“It is also clear from the wording of Section 17A of the Act that the State government is not required to exhaustively and meticulously consider all the material available with the investigating officer at the time he seeks approval, and it is only required to examine and consider whether the opinion formed by the investigating officer that an investigation is warranted is justified or not,” the court observed.
Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda made these observations while refusing to interfere with permission granted by the State government to the Lokayukta police to conduct an investigation against Shreeroopa, the then Deputy Secretary-III of the Bangalore Development Authority.
The court dismissed her petition, in which she had challenged the permission granted by the government on August 18, 2023, for investigation on the request made by the investigating agency. It was alleged that the then BDA commissioner, the petitioner and others in 2012 had allegedly made some unlawful gains by illegally dividing allotted sites measuring 60ft x 40ft into sites measuring 30ft x 40ft in Sir M. Visvesvaraya Layout, 5th Stage, which was formed in 2005.
It was contended in the petition that the government had granted permission for investigation without application of mind.
However, the court said that if the State government is satisfied that the opinion formed by the investigating officer is justified and its is required to be subjected to an investigation, the State Government can accord its approval.
Pointing out that a mere grant of permission for investigation would not result in prosecution as there is a requirement of sanction for prosecution that requires greater examination of investigated materials against the public servant in terms of the rules and the guidelines, the Court said that there is no requirement for framing rules or guidelines for according approval for investigation.
“The parameters that are to be applied for according to approval to investigate a public servant are not as stringent as the parameters which provide for granting sanction to prosecute a public servant,” the court said.
