Corruption poses big threat to society: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has set aside an anticipatory bail granted to an IRS officer by the Gujarat High Court in connection with a corruption case.

The apex court, while setting aside the anticipatory bail granted to the IRS officer by the Gujarat High Court, stressed that corruption poses a serious threat to society and must be dealt with an iron hand.

The court asserted, "The nature and gravity of the alleged offence should have been kept in mind by the High Court. Corruption poses a serious threat to our society and must be dealt with iron hands." The anticipatory bail order granted to Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Santosh Karnani was set aside by a bench of Justices Surya Kant and JK Maheshwari on the appeal of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Supreme Court, while inviting CBI's appeal, highlighted that the impugned judgment and order of the Gujarat High Court dated December 19, 2022, is set aside and the anticipatory bail application of Karnani is dismissed.

"If Respondent No. 1 (Karnani) moves an application for grant of regular bail before an appropriate Court, the same shall be considered on its own merits and in accordance with the law, uninfluenced by the observations made hereinabove," the court added.

While pronouncing the judgement, the bench of justices went on to mention that corruption is a tree whose branches are of an unmeasurable length, they spread everywhere. "The dew that drops from thence hath infected some chairs and stools of authority. Hence the need is to be extra conscious," it added.

The First Information Report (FIR) was first filed on October 4, 2022, by the state anti-corruption bureau based on a complaint. Acting on the FIR, the local police came to action on the same day and recovered Rs 30 lakh, said to be an amount taken as a bribe. The CBI took over the case and re-registered the FIR on October 12, 2022. However, the Gujarat HC on December 19, 2022, ordered a pre-arrest bail for the accused IRS officer.