Expedite sanctions for prosecutions by vigilance: Punjab Govt

The Punjab Government today issued directions to all departments to expedite sanctions for prosecutions sought by vigilance department in various cases and ensure the compliance of the order within 20 days.
The departments have been also directed not to launch parallel administrative inquiries wherever the vigilance probe was on as per the recent direction of the Supreme Court, an official spokesman here said.
Under Secretary Vigilance has reiterated the instructions under which Vigilance Bureau has to complete the inquiry within 3 months and send the reports to administrative departments concerned seeking grant of sanction for prosecution, he said.
The competitive authority is supposed to take a decision on sanction for prosecution relying on the record available with the investigating officer.

The departments are supposed to place the matter before respective committee wherever there was delay for granting sanction and Vigilance Bureau has to monitor the delay.
The government has also brought to the notice of various departments the directions of the Supreme Court on the practice of parallel enquiries launched by various departments just to deny sanction for prosecution.

The Supreme Court had recently directed that grant of sanction was only administrative function where the evidence collected during the investigation has to be placed before competent authority which is then to prima facie satisfy itself as to whether or not the relevant facts constitutes an offence.

The apex court had observed that there is no occasion for launching of parallel departmental enquiries or for granting personal hearing before the competent authority reaches its conclusion.
The Supreme Court had directed that such practices needed to be dispensed with in order to ensure early decision on cases where sanction for prosecution has been sought by the vigilance bureau.