JUDGEMENT

1. The respondent in the Government Appeal and the appellant in the Criminal Appeal is the same person. For the sake of convenience he is referred to as 'accused'. The accused was the Agent, State Bank of India, Athgarh. He was charged under S.5(1)(d) read with S.5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and under S.120-B I.P.C. on the allegation that he agreed with one person to cheat the State Bank of India and ultimately cheated the Bank and allowed undue pecuniary benefit to one Ramesh Chandra Rai Samant. It is not necessary to state the facts in detail. The accused was acquitted of the charge under S.5(1)(d) read with S.5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and he was convicted for offence under Ss.477-A and 120-B of the I.P.C. with sentence to undergo R. I. for two years on each count. The Government Appeal is directed against the order of acquittal of the offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Criminal Appeal is directed against the conviction of the accused under the Penal Code.

2. Mr. Mohanty, the learned counsel for the accused, contends that there was no valid sanction for the prosecution of the accused and in absence of valid sanction, th