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2023 (10) TMI 1215 - TELANGANA HIGH COURTGrant of Sanction for prosecution - petitioners would submit that the Prosecution is bad in law since no proposal was made for prosecuting the second petitioner - HELD THAT:- Any sanction required to be issued by a specified authority which would be the competent authority, the documents pertaining to the case have to be examined by such competent authority and proceedings have to be issued by giving reasons as to why prosecution has to be launched. A duty is cast upon the competent authority to apply its mind to the facts of the case to grant sanction. A statute requiring sanction to be made is for the purpose or ensuring that criminal prosecution is not launched vexatiously or improperly or in a routine manner or when no offence is made out. The competent authority has to shoulder responsibility of scrutinizing the available material and record its satisfaction to criminally prosecute a person. The Honourable Supreme Court in MANSUKHLAL VITHALDAS CHAUHAN VERSUS STATE OF GUJARAT [1997 (9) TMI 618 - SUPREME COURT] held that whether a sanction is valid would depend upon the material placed before the sanctioning authority. Grant of sanction is not an idle formality or an acrimonious exercise but a solemn and sacrosanct act. The prosecution instituted without a proper sanction would fail since the proceedings would be void for want of a valid sanction. The Court cannot take cognizance of an offence until pre-requisite of sanction is fulfilled by the prosecution and filed before the Court - In the present case, except the office communication dated 01.08.2014, there is no separate sanction order which is accorded by the Chief-Commissioner. A mere letter conveying that the Chief Commissioner had accorded administrative approval for launching criminal prosecution cannot be a valid document to launch prosecution against the petitioners. Since there is no valid sanction as required, the proceedings against the petitioners in CC.No.32/2015 on the file of Special Judge for Economic Offences at Hyderabad, are hereby quashed - the Criminal Petition is allowed.
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