KOCHI: The High Court on Monday made it clear crimes could be registered and investigation could be conducted under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act only in cases where elements of corruption or misconduct were revealed.
“Mere instance of malfeasance, wrong discharge of functions or dereliction of duty will not cause a prosecution under the Act. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) is only a branch of the Police Department and does not have any exclusive province or independent existence as it was not a statutory creation like the CBI or the NIA,” the court said.
It said VACB was not expected to make recommendations to the government in the form of directions as was done in the case against Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala by the inspector. “Whenever the necessity of disciplinary action, including recovery of money, is felt by the VACB on inquiry, it can only be reported to the government,” it said.
“Legislation is a sovereign function. Executive actions of the government in carrying out the Cabinet decisions will also come under sovereign functions. Such functions cannot be the subject of an inquiry under PC Act, unless the executive or administrative action individually involves elements of corruption or criminal misconduct on the part of any public servant,” the court held.