Yes, a citizen, i.e., a private person can file a private complaint in respect of a corruption offence. This was previously held by a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the case of A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak, (1984) 2 SCC 500 : 1984 SCC (Cri) 277. It has now been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in the recent case of Subramanian Swamy v. Manmohan Singh, (2012) 3 SCC 64, in which it was held that there is no provision either in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or Criminal Procedure Code which bars a citizen from filing a complaint for prosecution of a public servant who is alleged to have committed an offence.
Such private complaint has to be filed in the court of Special Judge appointed under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
However, sanction for prosecution is needed under the provisions of Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act before the court can take cognizance of any such offence. In view of this, the Supreme Court in the above case of Subramanian Swamy v. Manmohan Singh, held that in future every competent authority shall take appropriate action on the representation made by a citizen for sanction of the prosecution of a public servant strictly in accordance with the direction contained in Vineet Narain case [Vineet Narain v. Union of India, (1998) 1 SCC 226] and the CVC Sanction for Prosecution Guidelines, 2005.
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