Special leave granted.

1. Two questions were raised before the High Court, namely, (i) whether sanction under S.197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter called the 'Code') was required for the prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and (ii) whether sanction under S.6 of that Act was a pre-requisite for the prosecution of an accused public servant under S.5 thereof even when such public servant had ceased to be a public servant on the date of taking cognizance of the offence by the Special Judge? In order to appreciate the exact point arising in this case and raised in this appeal, it is necessary to refer to the charge framed by the learned Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram. The charge framed is in two parts. The first part is to the effect that the accused Sri. R. Balakrishna Pillai who functioned as Minister for Electricity, Government of Kerala, between May, 1982 and 5.6.85 and his co-accused while functioning as Technical Member/ Chairman of the Kerala State Electricity Board, Thiruvananthapuram, between 1.2.84 and 30.11.85, in their capacity as such public servants during the period from July 1984 to November,