E-Paper
Prior prosecution sanction in cases of ‘illegal acts’ by public servants not necessary: HC
Jharkhand High Court dismissed IAS officer Pooja Singhal's petition against a money laundering case, ruling no prior sanction was needed for personal illegal acts.
Jharkhand High Court has dismissed a petition filed by IAS officer Pooja Singhal seeking to quash the ‘cognisance order’ in a money laundering case, ruling that prior sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not required for prosecution in cases involving personal ‘illegal acts’.
In the ruling passed on Monday, the bench of justice Ambuj Nath also underlined that sanction could be obtained at any stage before the pronouncement of the judgment.
Singhal had filed the petition for quashing the cognisance order of July 19, 2022 by the PMLA court in Ranchi in connection with ECIR Case 03 of 2018. She had submitted that cognisance of the offences under sections-3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 was taken without adhering to the mandatory requirement of sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 corresponding to Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
The petitioner had argued that the learned trial court had taken cognisance under the aforesaid section without obtaining prior sanction under section 197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It was submitted that the petitioner is admittedly a public servant, therefore, additional safeguard in the form of sanction under Section 197 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure has to be considered. It was submitted that cognisance order was bad in law as the mandatory requirement under section 197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not adhered to.
The respondent, Directorate of Enforcement (ED), on the other hand had countered that this protection had certain limits and was available only when the alleged act done by the public servant was reasonably connected with the discharge of his official duty and not merely a cloak for doing the objectionable act.
After having reserved its order on October 13, 2025, the bench of justice Ambuj Nath dismissed the petition on Monday. “Sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is only for the acts reasonably connected to official duty, not personal illegal acts even if done by the public servants. Sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is not for shielding corrupt officials,” the bench ruled.
On the question, whether the special judge should have taken cognisance after obtaining sanction for prosecution of the petitioner, the HC ruled that it was settled principle of law that the issue of sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure could be taken up before the learned trial court at any stage of the proceedings.
“It would depend on the nature of the evidence that the prosecution may lead in the course of the trial. In fact, sanction can be obtained at any stage before the pronouncement of the judgment. In view of the aforesaid discussion, I am of the opinion that taking of cognisance in the present case by the Special Court without sanction will not vitiate the cognizance order,” the judgement said.
Senior IAS Pooja Singhal was arrested by ED on May 11, 2022 on money laundering charges in connection with a MNREGA scam being probed by the federal agency. It has been alleged that Singhal, who was officiating as deputy commissioner, Khunti, defalcated government money in many projects. The audit committee suggested that defalcation to the tune of ₹18.06 crore during 16/02/2009 to 19/07/2010, when Singhal was the principal authority for sanctioning the funds for different development projects.
During the course of investigation, various premises including that of the petitioner and her associates were raided and searched by the federal agency and cash amounting to ₹19.76 crore was recovered. Singhal was arrested thereafter.
Singhal secured bail on December 7, 2024 from the PMLA court. The state government subsequently revoked her suspension. The 2000-batch IAS officer is currently secretary (information & technology) in Jharkhand government.
