Punjab issues instructions regarding prosecution of govt

The Punjab government has directed all financial commissioners, Principal Secretaries and Administrative Secretaries to maintain utmost care while giving sanction to any investigating agency for prosecution of government officers.
The directions were issued referring to the Supreme Court judgement "in which it has observed that there is obligation on the sanctioning authority to discharge its duty to give or withhold sanction only after having full knowledge of the material facts of the case," according to a state government statement here today.
Grant of sanction is not mere formality so before granting sanction, public interest and the protection available to the accused against whom sanction is sought must be kept in mind, it said.

Instructions issued to the Head of the Departments (HoDs) have also been supplemented with the relevant part of the Supreme Court judgement. The HoDs have been asked to adhere to these guidelines before granting sanction for prosecution, the statement said.
The prosecution must send the relevant records to the sanctioning authority including the FIR, disclosure statement, statement of witness, recovery memos, draft chargesheets and all other relevant materials, the statement added.