Action against ex-secy stayed

NEW DELHI, APRIL 13: The Supreme Court today stayed criminal proceedings before a Chennai Special Judge against former Tamil Nadu chief secr...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 13: The Supreme Court today stayed criminal proceedings before a Chennai Special Judge against former Tamil Nadu chief secretary N Haribhaskar, charged with various offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A division bench, comprising Justice G B Patnaik and Justice K Jagannadha Rao, passed the stay order on a special leave petition by the former IAS officer challenging a Madras High Court order validating the cognizance taken by the special judge for various alleged criminal offences, despite there being no sanction from the central government.

The court issued notices to the state government represented by the CBI on the special leave petition. Senior counsel K Parasaran, appearing for Haribhaskar, told the judges that the High Court had erred in holding that the state government was the appropriate sanctioning authority even in respect of an officer belonging to the IAS though under the service rules he can only be removed or dismissed by the Centralgovernment.

Parasaran submitted that the special leave petition raised important questions of law on whether the state government can be recognised as the appropriate and competent sanctioning authority merely because an all India service officer works in relation to the affairs of that government though he is not capable of being removed by that government but by the centre.Parasaran submitted another issue, whether the judgement of the High Court would not result in an incongruous position in respect of an all India service officer in as much as for the offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the sanctioning authority would be the centre while for offences under the IPC it would be the state. He said it was reasonable that there should be only one sanctioning authority, the Central government, competent to remove an IAS officer.

The High Court had erred in its interpretation of Section 197 CrPC and its finding that the state government was the authority for grant of sanction to prosecute an allIndia officer for any alleged offences committed in discharge of his duties as a public servant under the IPC, Parasaran said.The High Court had also erred in holding that if a person was employed in relation to the affairs of the state, despite being an IAS officer, then the state government alone was the competent authority and that that would be sufficient compliance of the provisions under 197 CrPC.