MP 1 Appln1182_11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.1182 OF 2011 The State of Maharashtra ... Applicant Versus Amit Hindurrao Sardesai ... Respondent Mr.Y.S.Shinde, APP for the Applicant State. CORAM : J. H. BHATIA, J. DATE : 19TH DECEMBER 2011 P. C. : 1. Heard the learned APP. 2. The State seeks leave to prefer appeal against acquittal of the accused / respondent for the offences punishable under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act. According to prosecution, the accused is a Class-II Medical Officer and was appointed in Aundh Uro Hospital for performing operation on the complainant P.W.2 Suresh. He made a demand of Rs.3,000/-. At that time, the complainant did not have the amount with him. After the operation was performed, the accused asked him to bring the money, and therefore, for short time, he was allowed to leave the hospital. During that period, complainant approached Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and lodged the report. Thereafter, trap was arranged and the accused was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting the amount. 3. The learned Additional Special Judge, Pune acquitted the accused holding that the sanction to prosecute the accused was not accorded by the competent authority. MP 2 Appln1182_11 4. From the material collected by the prosecution, it appears that the respondent is a Class-II Medical Officer appointed by the Government of Maharashtra, Public Health Department. The evidence of P.W.1 Subhashchandra Magar, who is Under Secretary, shows that he had studied all the papers and found a prima facie case was made out to accord sanction to prosecute against the respondent / accused. Thereafter on obtaining the opinion of Law and Judiciary Department, he accorded the sanction. He also admitted that the Deputy Chief Minister had given directions to file prosecution against the accused, and accordingly, P.W.1 prepared the sanction order and signed it. Sanction order has to be signed by the officer who accords the sanction and not by any other officer. The evidence also shows that the Principal Secretary of the Public Health Department is the highest officer of that Department, and therefore, the Principal Secretary alone would be competent to accord sanction for prosecution of Class-II Medical Officer for whom the Government of Maharashtra is the appointing authority. Under Secretary of that Department is not the competent authority to accord the sanction. In view of the material on record, it is clear that the sanction was accorded of an officer, who was not competent. Therefore, no fault can be found with acquittal on that ground. 5. Therefore, the application seeking leave to prefer appeal stands rejected. (J. H. BHATIA, J)