Overview
- On Friday, July 31, 2026 the Supreme Court dismissed the State of Rajasthan's appeal, upheld the High Court's quashing of a reopened prosecution sanction and ordered the State to pay Rs.50,000 to each court as costs.
- The case arose from a 2017 anti-corruption bureau trap of government doctor Dev Kant Meena in which Rs.2,000 was recovered from a locked drawer and allegations were made of a demanded bribe for a knee surgery.
- In March 2018 the Rajasthan Department of Personnel, with the Principal Secretary and Chief Secretary, recommended refusal of sanction after finding the record did not prove demand or acceptance, but the Chief Minister's Office asked for reconsideration in May 2018 without producing new material.
- The Supreme Court ruled that a mere change of opinion on the same record cannot justify reopening a refusal of sanction, relied on earlier precedents and said where two reasonable views exist the one exonerating the officer should ordinarily prevail.
- The judgment warns administrators to apply independent mind before granting sanction, shields public servants from vexatious prosecution driven by extraneous pressure, and may curb politically motivated reopenings of corruption probes.