New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court order laying down a deadline for sanctioning the prosecution of public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act and said the court’s directives should be followed.
“It is a welcome decision… All sanctioning authorities have to follow guidelines of the Supreme Court,” Chidambaram told media persons here.
Answering queries on the apex court order, Chidambaram said he had not read the judgment and the issue does not concern the home ministry directly.
However, he said the court had explained the legal position on the issue and laid down “guidelines for competent authorities”.
The Supreme Court Tuesday set the government a three-month deadline for sanctioning prosecution of public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The apex court said this while allowing a petition by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy which contended that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sitting on his application seeking sanction to prosecute former telecom minister A. Raja for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam.
An apex court bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly said the time period would be extended by another month if the government wanted to take the opinion of the attorney general.
Asked about the 2G spectrum case, Chidambaram said “because chargesheets (had been) filed”, the court “did not issue further directions”.
