SC: Under PC Act, State Police Can Probe Corruption Case Against Central Govt Employees
The Supreme Court has ruled that state police are empowered to investigate, file charges against central government employees in corruption cases without prior CBI approval.
By Sumit Saxena
Published : January 20, 2026 at 6:34 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that state police authorities can investigate and file a chargesheet against employees of the central government when it comes to the offences of bribery and corruption, under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The order was passed on Monday by a bench comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Satish Chandra Sharma. The bench also made it clear that no prior permission from the CBI is required before registering a case against a central government employee by the state police.
The apex court upheld a Rajasthan High Court order, which had refused to quash a corruption case against a central government employee.
The bench noted that the high court after due consideration of the position of law and a review of various decisions of this court and the provisions of law, has recorded a categorical finding that the ACB of the state of Rajasthan has jurisdiction to register the criminal case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) despite the fact that the accused is an employee of the central government.
“The high court has taken the correct view while saying that it is incorrect to say that it is only the CBI who could have instituted the prosecution”, said the bench.
The bench said the PC Act does not specifically envisage a separate procedure for conducting an investigation, and the offences under the PC Act can be investigated by a state agency or a central agency or any police agency, as can be seen from section 17 of the Act, with the qualification that the police officer shall be of a particular rank.
The bench said Section 17 does not exclude or prevent the state police or a special agency of the state from registering a crime or investigating cases relating to bribery, corruption and misconduct against central government employees.
"It is for convenience and to avoid duplication of work that the Central Bureau of Investigation a specialised investigating agency under the Special Police Establishment is entrusted with the task of investigation of the cases of corruption and bribery against the employees of the central government and its undertakings and the Anti-Corruption Bureau a specialised investigating agency of the state is entrusted with the task of investigation of the cases of corruption and bribery against the employees of the state government and its undertakings," the bench said.
The bench said Section 156 of Cr.P.C. authorises any police officer in charge of a police station to investigate a cognizable offence without the order of the magistrate. “The word ‘police station’ has been defined in Clause (s) of Section 2 of the Code to mean any post or place declared generally or specially by the state government, to be a police station, and includes any local area specified by the state government in this behalf”, said the bench
“The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) is also a wing of the State Police. The offences under the PC Act are also cognizable and can, therefore, be investigated by the State Police or VACB. The only rider is that the investigation can be done only by a police officer of the rank specified in Section 17 of the PC Act”, said the apex court.
The high court had said that Rajasthan ACB had jurisdiction to register the criminal case under the provisions of the PC Act, despite the fact that the accused was a central government employee. “We find no error, not to speak of any error of law, in the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court. In view of the aforesaid, the Special Leave Petition stands dismissed”, said the apex court.
Read More
