Manju Surana v. Ratan Singh
Background
This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The question was whether prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act is needed before a Magistrate can direct an investigation under Section 156(3) CrPC against a public servant.
Decision Breakdown
This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The Court found a divergence in its own decisions on the point and referred the question to a larger bench.
Lesson Learnt
There is no final ruling yet on whether sanction is needed at the stage of ordering an investigation.