The Single judge bench of Karnataka High Court has held that prosecution of corruption charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act does not require sanction under section 137 of the Customs Act.
The Petitioner, George Varghese has been accused of the offences punishable under section 120 B read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988.
It was alleged by the CBI that the Petitioner, as a public servant, in the capacity of the Superintendent of Customs, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Inspector of Customs and the CEO of M/s. Amisha International, the second accused during and cleared a container carrying goods meant for export by the firm, without physically verifying the same, which caused wrongful loss to the Government of India, to the tune of Rs.26,94,251/- and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves.
The Petitioner contended that on the date of the alleged offences, he was serving in the Customs Department and thus, a sanction order under Section 137 of the Customs Act was mandatory for taking cognizance.
The bench observed that the sanction under Section 137(1) of the Customs Act was required only concerning those offences under Section 132, Section 133, Section 134, Section 135 or Section 135-A of the Customs Act and the offences alleged against the petitioner are punishable under Sections 120B, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC and under Section 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act which doesn’t need the sanction under Section 137 of the Customs Act.
Justice Dr H B Prabhakara Sastry observed that the sanction accorded under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was sufficient and rejected the petition filed challenging the order of the Special CBI Court rejecting the discharge application.
The petitioner was represented by Sri Kiran S Javali, Senior counsel for Sri. Chandrashekhara K and the respondent were represented by Sri. P Prasanna Kumar, Special Public Prosecutor.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
