The Supreme Court held that a sanction under Section 197 CrPC to prosecute a public servant cannot rest on vague or mechanical assertions and must reflect a clear application of mind by the competent authority.

“Application of mind by the authorities granting or denying sanction must be easily visible including consideration of the evidence placed before it in arriving at the conclusion.” , observed a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh while allowing an IAS officer's appeal, noting that the supplementary chargesheet was filed after an inordinate delay and that the sanction order was vitiated for being passed without proper application of mind.

Setting aside the Patna High Court's decision refusing to quash the FIR on the grounds of a vitiated sanction order, the judgm

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