Madras High Court: No Sanction Needed to Prosecute Public Servants for Disproportionate Assets
Madras High Court holds that sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C. or Section 218 BNSS is not required to prosecute public servants for disproportionate assets, as the offence lacks nexus with official duties.
The Madras High Court has ruled that police do not need prior sanction under either the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) or the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to prosecute public servants accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. Justice V. Lakshminarayanan held that such a charge has no reasonable connection or nexus with the discharge of official duties.
The ruling came while the court declined to discharge former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam, his wife P. Senthamizhselvi and son P. Kathiravan from a 2011 disproportionate assets case registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC).
The judge agreed with Additional Public Prosecutor Arun Anbumani that sanction under Section 197 of the Cr.P.C., corresponding to Section 218 of the BNSS, is necessary only when the alleged offence has a reasonable connection with the discharge of official duties by a public servant.
"Amassing wealth beyond known sources of income cannot be treated as one having nexus to discharging official duty," the judge observed, noting that while Section 197 exists to protect serving and retired public servants, it is not required when the alleged offence has no such nexus.
The court further held that although Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act mandates sanction before prosecuting public servants under certain provisions, it would not apply in this case because Mr. Panneerselvam had demitted office and was no longer a Minister when the court took cognisance of the alleged offences.
The prosecution case is that the accused could not satisfactorily account for ₹3.01 crore in their possession during the check period from April 15, 2006 to March 21, 2011, when Mr. Panneerselvam served as Health Minister in the Cabinet of then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
The Cuddalore Principal District and Sessions Court had on June 30, 2026 rejected the accused's plea to discharge them, prompting them to move the High Court. The criminal revision petition was dismissed on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
Justice Lakshminarayanan questioned how the accused could file a second discharge petition when their first plea in 2013 was allowed by the Cuddalore Chief Judicial Magistrate in 2016, but that order was reversed by the High Court in 2025 on a revision petition filed by the DVAC. While reversing the discharge, Justice P. Velmurugan had ordered a speedy trial given the case's long pendency. The accused took the High Court order to the Supreme Court, but the special leave petition was withdrawn.
Rejecting the argument that the withdrawal with liberty to approach the appropriate forum amounted to the top court setting aside the High Court's order, the judge said the effect of the withdrawal was that the High Court's order dated April 15, 2025 stood confirmed, and that the Supreme Court had nowhere held that the order allowing the revision was set aside.
The judge also observed that transferring cases against MPs and MLAs from Chief Judicial Magistrates to Principal District and Sessions Judges, after designating the latter as special courts, was not serving the purpose of ensuring speedy trial since cases get clogged before sessions courts too. He directed the High Court Registry to place the issue before the Chief Justice for a suitable decision.