The High Court of Karnataka has directed all the special courts dealing with corruption cases under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988, not to entertain private complaints against public servants in the absence of production of approval, granted by the competent authorities to the complainants under Section 17A of the Act.
Apart from this, the complaints under the PC Act should contain narration, along with documentary evidence, that the complainant had earlier made efforts to register a complaint before the Karnataka Lokayukta police and no action was taken on such complaint.
Stating that the judges of the special courts should also examine whether the complainants have filed affidavits under the Oaths Act, 1969, reiterating the allegations made in the complaint, the High Court said that the private complainants can be entertained only if these three criteria are complied with.
