Taking strong note of what she described as the “cancerous” persistence of corruption in the country, Supreme Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna on Tuesday urged youngsters and children to reject wealth accumulated by their parents through corrupt means, stressing the need for ethical values in public life.
The remarks were made as a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan delivered a split verdict on the constitutional validity of a 2018 amendment to the anti-corruption law that requires prior sanction before initiating a probe against a government servant.
Justice Nagarathna held that Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, is unconstitutional and deserves to be struck down. She observed that the provision creates an unjustified shield for public servants and undermines effective investigation into corruption.
Introduced in July 2018, Section 17A bars any enquiry, inquiry or investigation against a public servant for decisions or recommendations made while discharging official duties unless prior approval is obtained from the competent authority. The provision has been criticised for allegedly delaying or preventing anti-corruption probes.
The split verdict now leaves the final determination of the issue to be decided by a larger bench of the Supreme Court.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)
