NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has held that state police authorities can investigate the offences of bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the central government employees without an approval or consent from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The SC pointed out that Section 17 of the PC Act does not exclude or prevents the state police or a special agency of the state from registering a crime or investigating cases relating to bribery, corruption and misconduct against central government employees.
A two-judge bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Satish Chandra Sharma, has also made it clear that no prior permission from the CBI is required before registering a case against a central government employee by the state police.
While dismissing a petition filed by Nawal Kishore Meena, the top court upheld the Rajasthan High Court’s judgment of October 3, 2025.