Sanction Order Should Contain Reasons & Must Reflect Materials Considered By Authority: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court observed that a sanction order should contain reasons and must also reflect the materials considered by the authority for the purpose of deciding the necessity for granting sanction for prosecution of the public servant.

In this case, the contention raised by the accused was that the prosecution case has been initiated in violation of the statutory stipulations contained in Section 15(A) of Essential Commodities Act, 1995. It was further contended that the sanction order is completely silent as to whether appropriate authority has considered the relevant materials before granting sanction for prosecuting him. The accused were charged under Section 5(a) of the Kerala Rationing Order read with Sections 3(2) (c) (d), 7(i) (a) (ii) and Section 8 of the Essential Commodities Act. They approached the High Court by filing a petition under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings.

As per Section 15(A) of Essential Commodities Act, no court can take cognizance against a public servant for the offences punishable under the Act except with the previous sanction of the State Government. The court noted that as per Section 15A(b), even for a public servant who retired subsequently, sanction is a mandatory requirement, if the alleged acts were committed while the said accused was on duty at the time of commission of crime.

Referring to the judgment in Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education v. K.S.Gandhi and Others [1991 (2) SCC 716], Justice Ziyad Rahman AA observed:

"Going by the principles laid down by the Honourable Supreme Court in the aforesaid judgments, the contents of the order should reflect the materials considered by the authority for the purpose of deciding the necessity for granting sanction for prosecution of the public servant. Without highlighting any reason and without any indication as to the documents perused, no order of sanction should be passed. In this case, the order granting sanction was without any such observations and materials."

The court therefore quashed the proceedings against the accused also noticing the fact that the chances of successful prosecution as against the accused are very bleak.

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