SC lens on Prevention of Corruption Act tweak shielding babus from CBI

NEW DELHI: The SC on Monday agreed to examine the validity of an amendment to Prevention of Corruption Act that barred the CBI from investigating corruption charges against government officials without the Centre’s permission.

Appearing for NGO ‘Centre for Public Interest Litigation’, advocate Prashant Bhushan told a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Ajay Rastogi that introduction of Section 17A in PC Act by the NDA government mandating prior permission to investigate corruption cases against bureaucrats was nothing but resurrection of the earlier Section 6A of Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, infamously known as ‘single directive’ which mandated the CBI to take the Centre’s sanction before probing joint secretary and above level officers.

Bhushan said the SC, in Vineet Narain case in 1998, had struck down Section 6A of DSPE Act. The NDA government in 2003 enacted the CVC Act and re-introduced ‘single directive’ clause through Section 26 of the Act.

The SC in 2014 had again quashed it saying classification of bureaucrats into two categories for the purpose of investigation into corruption charges against them was unreasonable.

Bhushan said the present attempt to resurrect the ‘single directive’ in a much wider form would result in complete negation of the CBI’s power . “Now, the protection is for public servants at all levels from inquiry or investigation in offences under PC Act. Thus, the provision which have been totally disapproved by the SC has not only been reintroduced but its scope has been widened.” The CJI-led bench said it saw merit in the argument and hence has issued notice to the Centre seeking its reply.

Bhushan said the amendments had rendered the PC Act ineffective by diluting the scope of some original provisions, by deleting some of the offences and by introducing a new provision which would protect corrupt officials.