The Hindu : National : Prosecution of legislators: verdict reserved

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Friday, Jan 28, 2005

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Prosecution of legislators: verdict reserved

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. The Supreme Court today reserved verdict on the limited question whether the issue relating to the grant of sanction for prosecution of MPs and MLAs involved in corruption cases was required to be decided by a larger Bench.

A Bench of Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice B.N. Srikrishna reserved the verdict on this question during the hearing of a batch of appeals filed by the former Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, and his son Sukhbir Singh, the former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and the former Kerala Chief Minister, K. Karunakaran.

Mr. Badal and his son had challenged their prosecution in the disproportionate assets case contending that no sanction was obtained from the competent authority for prosecuting them. The petitioners alleged that the case was borne out of political vendetta. The Supreme Court had already stayed the trial.

Similarly, the trial pending before a special court in Thiruvananthapuram against Mr. Karunakaran in the "Rs. 2.80-crore palm oil import scam" during 1991-92 had also been stayed.

Appearing for Mr. Karunakaran, senior counsel K.K. Venugopal submitted that sanction for prosecution from the competent authority was necessary even if a public servant had ceased to hold that office which he was alleged to have misused. Further, if on the date of taking cognisance of the offence he was a public servant holding a different public office, sanction of the competent authority of the present public office was necessary to prosecute him.

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