INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Priyank Ladoia, Asif Ahmed, Pranav Tomar and Puneet Dhanoa, AZB & Partners
various issues including taking sanctions under the PCA. The CBI also has a Handbook on Investigation of Anti-Corruption Cases. Perti - nently, said CBI Manual and Handbook are not public documents and hence are not available in the public domain. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has notified standard operating procedures for the processing of cases under Section 17A of the PCA. 1.4 Recent Key Amendments to National Legislation There have been no amendments to the PCA in recent years. The last key amendment to the PCA was in 2018 by way of the Preven - tion of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 (the “Amendment Act”). Under the Amendment Act, the following changes were made to the PCA. While the PCA penalised a public servant for accepting any reward other than a salary, the Amendment Act amended this to bring within its ambit any act where a public servant accepts any “undue advantage other than legal remu - neration”. The Amendment Act makes giving a bribe to a public servant a direct offence, thereby extend - ing the scope of the PCA to private parties as well. The Amendment Act also prescribes that a trial under the PCA shall happen – as far as practi - cable – on a day-to-day basis. The Amendment Act also created a new offence of taking undue advantage to influence a pub - lic servant by corrupt or illegal means or by the exercise of personal influence.
The PCA also introduced an offence relating to bribery of a public servant by a commer - cial organisation. This included an amendment whereby, if a commercial organisation was found guilty of bribing a public servant, with the con - nivance or consent of any officer of the company (including key managerial personnel), such per - sons would also be guilty of the offence and be liable to be proceeded against. The Amendment Act reduces the types of offences under criminal misconduct to cover only two offences – misappropriating property and amassing disproportionate assets. The Amendment Act also introduced Section 17A, which mandates that no police officer shall conduct any enquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the PCA where the alleged offence is relatable to any recommendation made or decision taken by such public servant in discharge of their official functions or duties, without the previous approval of the relevant authority. Most importantly, the Amendment Act intro - duced Chapter IV A into the PCA, which provides powers of attachment and forfeiture of property as provided in the PMLA and the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944. 2. Bribery and Corruption Elements 2.1 Bribery While bribery has not been specifically defined under the PCA, a substantial definition of “undue advantage” has been provided. The definition is all-encompassing, since it includes any gratifica - tion, other than the legal remuneration received by the public servant. Further, the explanatory note to the provision further widens the word
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