It is permissible to file a private complaint in a corruption case against a public servant. This complaint will have to be filed in the court of the Special Judge appointed under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and not in the court of a Magistrate.
However, please note that if you want to yourself prosecute the public servant in the private complaint case, you may need to obtain sanction for prosecution against the public servant as required under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. For most of the offences under the PC Act, the Court has no power to take cognizance of the offence in the absence of the sanction for prosecution.
Moreover, generally speaking, it would be difficult to prove the corruption case against a public servant in a private complaint case, as it may not be possible for you to collect sufficient evidence against him.
Therefore, it is generally advisable that you file a complaint against the public servant with the State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) or the CBI, as the case may be. If they are not taking action, then you may consider filing a complaint to the Special Judge under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure seeking direction to the CBI / ACB to investigate the matter.
For more information on some of these issues, please read the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Subramanian Swamy v. Manmohan Singh, (2012) 3 SCC 64 : 2012 Cri LJ 1519 : AIR 2012 SC 1185, in which the Supreme Court has discussed some of these issues.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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