Status of pending grant of prosecution against government officials

In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the Kerala state government has informed that 582 vigilance cases are pending against government officials and public servants. The state government has further informed that permission to prosecute government officials and public servants has been given in 55 cases, which include cases against police officials, department heads, doctors, panchayat presidents and secretaries.

Earlier, a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly of the Supreme Court had ruled in the 2G Spectrum case that sanction for prosecution would be deemed to have been granted if the competent authority fails to take a decision within four months of the application seeking permission to prosecute a particular official or public servant, and the investigation agencies can proceed with their action. The Supreme Court ruled that the government can take one month for legal opinion, and three months thereafter for deciding on sanction.