SC slaps Rs 1 lakh fine on Rajasthan government for harassing official

NEW DELHI: Frowning upon "interference" by the joint secretary of the then chief minister of Rajasthan in May 2018 in a matter of granting sanction to prosecute a govt official, Supreme Court has directed the state to pay 1 lakh to the official for harassing him.A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said the provision of sanction was meant to safeguard innocent public servants from frivolous harassment."The decision-making process under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, cannot resemble the dilemma in Hamlet's Soliloquy: 'to be or not to be', though expressed in a different context. If there is ambivalence, it could be presumed that extraneous considerations weighed and here is a case where political dictate is blatantly displayed," the bench said.The bench took a serious view of the blatant display of "political dictate" by the state in dragging a public servant to court."We cannot but observe that the petitioner has been dragged unnecessarily to the high court by the review, prompted by the office of the CM. The state at least should have rested content, when the highest constitutional court within its boundaries interfered with a patently illegal and blatantly tainted order of sanction. We hence dismiss the special leave petition with the above observations and further direction to the state to pay cost quantified at 50,000 each before high court and this court," the bench said."The deliberate digression from essential duties, presumably on political considerations, commenced when the joint secretary of the chief minister on 24.05.2018 referred back the matter for reconsideration, asserting that the money recovered from the table drawer of the petitioner clearly proved the acceptance of bribe," it said.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.