Dear Editor,

A landmark ruling on Tuesday by the Supreme Court of India has relevance and application to the rest of the world facing corruption problems.  The Supreme Court held that a private individual can file a case to prosecute an official for corruption. The court declared it is the constitutional right of a citizen, and it is for the competent authority (Prime Minister or AG or DPP) to decide within a reasonable time-frame to sanction the prosecution of a public servant.

A private citizen, Dr Swamy, had sought a court direction for the PM to take a decision on prosecuting a corrupt minister. The PM maintained that the request for sanctioning the prosecution of the Minister had been considered, but that he had been advised that evidence from an investigative agency (CBI) was necessary before taking a decision in this regard. Dr Swamy alleged that there was an “inordinate delay” on the part of the PM in taking the decision on his plea, and that this had been neither allowed nor rejected for over 16 months.

The court refused to entertain the submissions made by the Attorney General in defending the stand of the PM.  It blamed the PM for sitting on the plea to grant sanction to prosecute the minister in one of the biggest corruption scandals involving a minister in India.

The Supreme Court’s ruling overturned a lower court’s ruling that sided with the PM in waiting for the completion of the CBI investigation. The highest court stated that if the authorizing party (the PM) does not give sanction to prosecute corrupt officials within four months from the filing of the allegations “then it is deemed to have been granted.”
This ruling will hopefully help in the speedy prosecution of corrupt officials in India.  Private citizens and judges in other countries should follow the Indian precedent and go after the corrupt.

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram