The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 13, 2026) delivered a split verdict on the legality of a provision in an anti-corruption law which mandates prior sanction before prosecuting public servants. Justice B.V. Nagarathna concluded that Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 was plainly unconstitutional, while Justice K.V. “If honest public servants are not given a basic assurance that decisions taken by them will not be subjected to frivolous complaints, it is the nation that will suffer. Public servants will resort to a play-it-safe syndrome, and that will result in policy paralysis. The panacea of striking down will turn out to be worse than the disease,” Justice Viswanathan wrote in his opinion.

Source: The Hindu January 13, 2026 22:40 UTC