The proposal of the Personnel Ministry is learnt to have been approved by Attorney General G E Vahanvati who has opined that any application seeking sanction to prosecute a public servant, including a minister, can only be considered if the person has filed a police complaint.
He has said the application can also be considered if a competent court has taken note of the complaint.
The decision to grant or deny prosecution sanction has to come within three months of considering the application.
"Cognizance is when the court has applied its mind to the content of the complaint and is of the view that there is a case," the AG is learnt to have said in the opinion to the Personnel Ministry.
At present, the sanction to prosecute any public servant is granted by the competent authority. While in case of officers, it is the minister concerned, in case of the ministers, it is the Prime Minister.
The move to amend the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act comes seven months after adverse comments were made by the Supreme Court in its judgement on a petition filed by Subramanium Swamy that even after passage of 16 months, the Prime Minister's Office did not respond to an application seeking sanction to prosecute former Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum scam.
