Editorial: No filter
CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 13TH SEPTEMBER, 2023
Editorial: No filter
Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has ruled that its 2014 verdict, invalidating Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, will have retrospective effect from the day the provision was introduced in 2003. The DSPE Act is the law that governs the CBI.
Section 6A provided that any investigation into corruption charges against officials of the rank of Joint Secretaries and above can begin only after the Central government's approval.
It was introduced to restore the Centre's 'Single Directive', a set of instructions to the CBI on the modalities of holding an inquiry, which was struck down in 1997.
With the current judgment, the Court has reiterated the position that post-Constitution laws cannot be inconsistent with the Constitution and when they are so declared by a court, the invalidation is with effect from their inception.
In 2018, when the Prevention of Corruption Act was amended, Section 17A was introduced to make the government's approval a mandatory requirement before any probe can be begun into decisions or recommendations made by any public servant.