Protection from criminal prosecution is not available to those public servants who work in Government companies or undertakings, the Supreme Court held on Monday.
Under section 197 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), prior sanction from a competent officer is needed to prosecute a Government servant for alleged criminal act done in discharge of his official duty and "no court shall take cognizance of such offence except with the previous sanction".
A bench of Justices Navin Sinha and AS Bopanna dismissed the appeal of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) against the High Court's order which had held that protection of sanction under CrPC was not available to the officers of public sector undertakings like BSNL even if they fall within the definition of 'state' under Article 12 of the Constitution.
BSNL and its officers, who were of the cadre of Indian Telecommunication Service and later shifted to the PSU, had challenged the order of a trial court initiating criminal prosecution against them in the case.