Courts turn down need for govt nod to prosecute in serious crimes

Jodhpur: Separate courts took a stern stand in two cases by taking action against public servants while doing away with the need of permission from government.
In the first case, dismissing a petition by a sarpanch seeking quashing of his suspension orders, who was caught red-handed while accepting bribe, the high court has ruled that there is no scope of taking a lenient view and if the facts are so clear about proceedings under Prevention of Corruption Act, there is no need for undertaking a preliminary inquiry by the department.
Petitioner sarpanch Sanjay Sikhwal had moved HC challenging his suspension orders with a prayer to quash them stating that the suspension was arbitrary, illegal and unwarranted on the ground that the complaint should have been brought to the notice of the state government, which should have been followed by a fact-finding inquiry by the department before proceeding with suspension orders.
Single bench of Justice Vineet Kumar Mathur observed that “the petitioner was arrested while accepting a bribe while discharging his duties as sarpanch and, therefore, the facts disclosed in the FIR are clear, unambiguous and do not warrant any preliminary inquiry to be conducted to find out the veracity of the same”.
Sukhwal, sarpanch of gram panchayat Jadana in Chittorgah district, had been caught red-handed while accepting bribe of Rs 2,40,000 on December 3 last year. He had been sent to judicial custody until bailed out on January 16. Subsequently, he was served a notice on January 24 seeking explanation why proceedings not be undertaken against him under Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996.