SC to hear petition on constitutional validity of Sec 19 of PCA

New Delhi, June 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court will tomorrow consider the constitutionality of Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), which has been quite often misused to shield corrupt public servants, both bureaucrats and politicians.

According to petitioner Manzoor Ali Khan, UP Chief Minister Mayawati is being shielded in the Taj Corridor Scandal case by UP Governor TV Rajeshwar, who had refused to give sanction for her trial in the case despite recommendation of the outgoing Mulayam Singh Yadav government for her prosecution under PCA.

Section 19 of PCA makes it mandatory to obtain prior sanction of the comptent authority for prosecuting a public servant including Ministers, MPs and MLAs.

The petitioner has also cited the examples of Captain Satish Sharma and late Ms Shiela Kaul, both ministers in the PV Narasimha Rao government, who escaped the prosecution for illegal and fraudulant allotment of petrol pumps and government lands respectively for the want of sanction.

According to the petition filed by advocate D K Garg, the impugned sanction deserves to be quashed as "unconstitutional," as it has become a tool in the hands of authorities who use it "arbitrarily and discriminately" to shield and protect corrupt politicians.

The UP Governor had declined to grant sanction for prosecution of Mayawati and others, despite the Supreme Court directions to the CBI to file its investigation report in the Taj corridor case before the competant court.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and PB Naolekar will hear the arguments on the point of admission of the petition, in which the Centre and all the states have been made respondents.

UNI